A/N: I present to you, Chapter 2! Hey, that rhymed.

I still don't own Naruto.


Chapter II: A Hero's Return

The field hospital was organized chaos. Medics scurried about, tending to the wounded while shinobi and civilians alike were bringing in survivors, some of whom were worse for wear than others. Sasuke arrived in the wake of the mass resurrection; which, if anything, threw the field hospital into more chaos. Patients pronounced dead were now suddenly up and walking, as though they had only woken from a nap. The incredulity and shock had given way to relief and cautious joy.

Sasuke took in the sights and sounds as he walked along a gravel path separating two rows of tents. The air was heavy with the smell of antiseptic, canvas, and iron. His eyes wandered, stealing glances into open tents, hoping to find his pink-haired teammate. Though he wasn't thinking it, he was hoping to find Naruto with Sakura. The blond would no doubt be getting an earful from his pink-haired friend, as well as a good smack upside the head for worrying his team, especially her.

Sasuke had found Sakura's temper annoying at first, especially when he was put on a team with her and Naruto. As time passed, however, he found her peculiar way of showing affection a bit endearing. Thankfully, she had reeled her temper in a bit, especially after the Chūnin Exams.

His reminiscing was cut short when he spotted pink locks a short distance away. He quickened his pace, gravel crunching beneath his sandals.

"Sakura! Over here!" he called to his teammate. Her head snapped up from what she was doing, her emerald eyes searching for her teammate. She spotted his spiky black hair and breathed a sigh of relief as she caught him in a crushing embrace, which Sasuke returned.

"You made it back," she sighed, burying her face in his shoulder. The two held each other for a second, taking in each other's presence and the fact that they were both okay before Sakura released Sasuke and took a step back. "Have you seen what happened? People who were dead are somehow alive again, as if nothing happened," she asked, with a puzzled look.

Sasuke nodded, a similar look disfiguring his normally stoic face. "Yeah, I have. Matter of fact, I saw someone I pulled from the rubble glow green and get right back up. I thought it was a genjutsu at first, but this is all actually happening. Could this have something to do with what happened with-," he started, before Sakura finished his question for him.

"Naruto? I don't know," she said, brows furrowed, eyes focused on the ground as she once again went over what had happened, trying to make a connection between that and the resurrections. "I mean, you saw what happened. He did release that chakra again. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with this, but then again…" she trailed off. 'With how little we know of that chakra and what it's really capable of, it's hard to say for sure,' she thought.

Sasuke sighed, knowing what the girl was thinking. Since neither of them had seen anything aside from glowing bodies standing up again, it was hard to say for certain whether or not Naruto was the reason those people were alive again. 'Knowing him, he probably did have something to do with this. He's always had a knack for pulling things off at the last second, and unexpectedly so,' the Uchiha mused. "I suppose the only one who can say for sure is Naruto. Speaking of which, have you seen him since the battle? Do you know if he found his way back yet?" he asked his teammate.

Sakura shook her head. "No and no," she stated, her voice thick with disappointment. "I ran into Kakashi-sensei on the way here. He said he was going to look for Naruto after I told him which direction he and Pain headed off in. After that, I ran into you, and now here we are." She took a moment to look over Sasuke. "You look exhausted, Sasuke. You should go rest," she said with a small smile.

"Hn." Sasuke gave his teammate a knowing look. "You know I won't sit down until that idiot shows up with Kakashi," he said nonchalantly. "Besides, I need to give him a piece of my mind for keeping all the fun to himself." Sakura rolled her eyes and couldn't help but giggle.

The rivalry between those two never ceased to amaze and amuse her in equal parts. It had brought them closer since they were in the academy. She knew Sasuke and Naruto had been friends even before she met them in the academy, but seeing their friendship firsthand and how the two respected each other warmed her heart. The two were like brothers to each other. That fact was especially evident after Naruto had beaten some sense into Sasuke when he became consumed with his thirst for revenge against his brother, Itachi. He had wanted to leave everything behind for the sake of getting stronger, but Naruto had reminded him of the strength they shared whenever they fought together as a team, and had opened Sasuke's eyes to the path he was dangerously close to following.

Her own reminiscing was cut short when she noticed Sasuke's eyes widen like dinner plates.

"Sakura…! Look!" he said, his voice barely above a whisper. Her head snapped around and she saw the familiar silver spikes of her sensei's hair. She breathed a sigh of relief before she gasped, her own eyes widening at the sight of her orange-clad teammate on Kakashi's back. Tears stung her eyes as she noticed there was blood on his face.

Her heart shot into her throat, her trembling hands moved up to her face. "Oh no…" she shakily said, her voice barely above a whisper. 'No way, there's no way he's this badly hurt. This can't be happening!' She momentarily argued with herself about what she was seeing, but she snapped herself out of it after seeing Sasuke jog towards Kakashi. She immediately flipped her medic switch and ran towards her team.

"How bad is it? Has the bleeding stopped?" she asked Kakashi, her voice calm but with an edge of determination. She immediately started leading him to find an open tent.

"I'm not sure just how bad, but the bleeding has slowed. He's unconscious, but he seems stable for now," he replied urgently. Sakura nodded and breathed a small sigh of relief, mentally noting how the blood had fallen on his cheeks and his temples. 'Someone did this to him while lying down. Did Pain do this? Why go for his eyes specifically?' she wondered. She turned to Sasuke, whose face was stoic, but his eyes showed genuine concern for his friend.

"Sasuke, go find Shizune and bring her here. Tell her it's an emergency with Naruto. Sensei, let's get him inside," she calmly ordered. Both gave a curt nod and Sasuke set off to find Tsunade's assistant while Kakashi followed Sakura.

Sakura ushered Kakashi into the tent, following after him and immediately going into medic mode. Kakashi laid Naruto down on the futon on the ground before Sakura came and held her teammate's wrist, checking his pulse. 'It's a little slow but it's stable,' she noted, before unzipping his jacket and placing a hand on his mesh-clad chest, channeling a small amount of chakra into her hand and feeling for his breathing. 'Labored. Whatever happened after the fight must've taken a lot out of him.' She prepared an IV drip and inserted the needle into his arm, adjusting his head with a small pillow to keep him comfortable.

She turned her focus to his eyes. The bleeding had slowed down considerably, going from a steady drip to a small leak down his temples. She channeled healing chakra to her hands and gently placed her palms over Naruto's eyes, simultaneously healing and sensing for the damage done to his eyes. 'This is strange, there's damage to the optic nerve and the muscles around the eye, but it's been…repaired slightly? It's almost like someone performed a field surgery, then partially healed him with medical ninjutsu. It's not on the same level as a medic, but whoever healed him seems to have done enough to save his optic nerves and his muscles,' she noted. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing her friend would be able to see after being looked at by herself and Shizune.

She turned to Kakashi's waiting gaze after finishing her examination. "How is he? Is it as bad as it looks?" the masked jōnin asked. Sakura shook her head. "He'll be alright. He should have no problems seeing and looking around after Shizune and I take a closer look and heal him further. There's just one thing that's…strange about what I found." Kakashi raised his brow.

Sakura turned to look at her unconscious teammate before continuing. "The damage that was done seems to have been healed before you brought him here. Not only that, but it seems like the damage done to his optic nerves and muscles was the result of a field surgery of some kind."

Kakashi's eye widened at that. "You mean this was intentional?" he asked his pink haired student. She gave him a small nod. Kakashi looked at his blond student, wondering just what had transpired since Naruto's fight.

Sakura ventured to carefully peel one of his eyelids open with a trembling hand. Just as her fingers touched his skin, Kakashi's hand gently grabbed her wrist, causing her to freeze and snap her head to her sensei. Her emerald eyes held confusion and concern. "Sensei? What is it?" She noticed he had a far-off look in his visible eye, which worried her even more.

He spoke quietly and evenly, warning her, "Sakura…before you open his eyes to look at them, you need to know something important." Her eyes widened and she gave a small nod before he continued, his voice even lower than before. "His eyes are not…normal," he stated, the last word wrought with tension from the implications. Sakura blinked at him before she gulped and gave a small nod, prompting him to release her hand.

She took a quivering breath to calm down before she gingerly peeled Naruto's eye open. She gasped. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. In place of the familiar sapphire blue, there was purple, in fact, his entire eye was a light purple, with thin, black concentric circles emanating from a small, narrow pupil. His irises were only a slightly darker shade than the rest of his eye. She quickly but carefully opened his other eye; an equally astonished gasp escaped her lips as she saw the same ringed purple orb offering its empty gaze.

Sakura looked to her sensei, trying to understand what Naruto's eyes were and what they meant. "Kakashi-sensei, what…what happened to his eyes?" she asked, her voice thick with concern.

He only shook his head and sighed. "I'm not sure, if I'm being honest," he said dejectedly. He looked at the concerned girl with a soft eye. "I know those eyes. I've heard of them and even seen them before. I checked them with my Sharingan to make sure someone hadn't put a genjutsu or transformation on him, but those eyes are as real as you and me."

Sakura wrung her hands, her gaze not leaving the silver-haired jōnin. "What are they? I've never seen eyes like that before. They don't look like Sasuke's eyes or any of the Hyuuga's eyes, so it can't be Sharingan or Byakugan…" she trailed off, trying to reason her way through what Naruto's eyes could be.

Kakashi knelt in front of her, meeting her gaze. "You're right, they're not Sharingan or Byakugan. In fact, those eyes that Naruto's got," he pointed his thumb at the blond. "Are said to be more powerful than both the Sharingan and the Byakugan. They're called the Rinnegan. The only other person who was said to possess them was called the Sage of Six Paths."

Sakura gasped again; her eyes were the size of dinner plates by this point. Her voice was low but was dripping with shock and disbelief. "The Sage of Six Paths? But he's just a myth! There's no way he could have the same eyes as, well, a minor god!" She glanced at her unconscious teammate, trying and failing to understand how this could be possible.

Her train of thought was interrupted by her sensei. "That's what I thought, too. However, that dōjutsu is unmistakable," he stated with a sense of finality. Sakura once again looked at the unconscious Naruto.

"This just sounds so unbelievable," she thought aloud. "But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. You've always been full of surprises," she said to her unconscious teammate. A small smile tugged at her and Kakashi's mouths. They sat in silence for a moment.

Sasuke entered the tent and snapped them back to the matter at hand. "I found Shizune," he announced as he ushered Tsunade's dark-haired assistant in. Sakura quickly got up and thanked Sasuke before filling Shizune in on the situation and Naruto's current condition. "I checked his vitals, he's stable for now. Breathing is a bit labored, likely from fatigue and the force of whatever knocked him unconscious. The bleeding has slowed considerably."

She paused before looking at Shizune with a pleading gaze. "Shizune, I need you to promise me something." She turned to Sasuke. "You, too, Sasuke." They both gave Sakura puzzled looks before nodding. Sakura gestured to both of them as the trio knelt down next to Naruto. Sakura looked at both of her raven-haired companions before speaking in a quiet but serious voice. "What you're about to see stays between us and Lady Tsunade. Nobody else is to know about this, clear?" Sasuke's face hardened as he grasped the severity of what she was about to show them, while Shizune still wore a confused expression. After looking into Sakura's pleading gaze, she nodded.

Sakura took a deep breath before she gently opened one of Naruto's eyelids, revealing one of his Rinnegan. Shizune gasped and brought her hands to her mouth, lost for words. Sasuke's eyes widened as he instinctively activated his Sharingan, which Kakashi took notice of.

"It's not a transformation or a genjutsu. I checked when I found him. Those eyes are real," he explained to the Uchiha. Sasuke stared at the purple orb before his eyes changed back to their normal onyx color.

Sakura's emerald eyes jumped between Shizune and her raven-haired teammate. "Both of his eyes are like this," she stated as she gently peeled open his other eye, revealing the same purple orb with concentric circles. She let his eye close. Shizune's eyes were impossibly wide and unblinking, her gaze fixated on Naruto's face. Sasuke was stiff as a board; his eyes no less unblinking, also staring at his teammate. They all sat in silence, the air thick with uncertainty and shock.

Sasuke was the first to break the silence. "Kakashi-sensei, those eyes, are they a dōjutsu? They sure as hell aren't Sharingan or Byakugan," he asked, not looking away from Naruto.

Kakashi nodded. "They are. Naruto seems to have acquired the Rinnegan," he said plainly. Both Sasuke's and Shizune's heads snapped to look at the silver-haired man. They were met with his usual half-lidded, indifferent gaze.

This time Shizune spoke, her voice trembling slightly. "The same eyes as the Sage of Six Paths…but how?" She thought aloud.

"There's something else that I should mention," Sakura began as Sasuke and Shizune turned to face her. "When I was examining him, I found that the damage done to his optic nerves and the muscles in his eye sockets was repaired before he got here. Not only that, but the damage that was still present was too precise to be anything inflicted by something like a kunai or, heaven forbid, someone ripping his eyes out with their bare hands. It was like someone surgically removed his original eyes and replaced them with the Rinnegan," she explained.

Shizune gasped again. Sasuke's jaw dropped. Shizune reached for Naruto's face, channeling chakra into her hands and gently placing her palms over his closed eyes, looking for the signs Sakura had described. After a few moments, she sighed. "Sakura is right, the optic nerves and surrounding ocular muscles seem to have been deliberately cut and repaired, albeit by someone who isn't a medic, judging by the extent of the repairs." She explained, before turning to Sakura. "You know his blood type?"

The younger medic gave a curt nod and stood up, already knowing what her colleague was going to ask. "I'll go try to find a transfusion kit just in case," she said, exiting the tent. The crunch of gravel beneath her sandals quieted as she walked away. Shizune turned back to the blond and molded her chakra to start healing his eyes and their connections. Despite the non-professional healing that was done, she was glad that someone at least had the sense to do so, since this made her job that much easier, and likely saved Naruto's sense of sight.

Kakashi turned to Sasuke, who hadn't moved much since the two medics had gotten to work, seemingly in a trance. The jōnin rose, and placed a hand on his student's shoulder, causing him to flinch at the unexpected contact. Sasuke turned to look up at Kakashi's half-lidded eye.

"Come on, let's give Shizune some space while she fixes up Naruto," Kakashi said calmly, trying to relax the Uchiha. "Tell Sakura we'll be outside resting, we won't be far away," he said to Shizune. She nodded over her shoulder with a small smile aimed at Sasuke as she continued to work on Naruto. Sasuke sighed. He didn't want to leave his teammate and friend alone, but he knew that he would want him to be rested as well.

Sasuke turned once more to his unconscious friend. "You better wake up soon, dummy. I need to test that dōjutsu of yours," he muttered. 'I'll help you when you wake up. You're my brother. It's the least I can do for you after what you've done for me,' he thought to himself. Kakashi gave one of his signature smiles as he ushered himself and Sasuke out of the tent.


It was late afternoon, and the sun had crept further into the west; ghosts of orange and pink peeked out from the horizon, signaling the impending sunset. Thin wisps of clouds adorned the sky like brushstrokes of white on a light blue canvas. The beauty and serenity of the heavens stood in stark contrast to the tragedy that occurred below.

Sasuke and Kakashi walked in silence for a bit, looking for somewhere to sit and rest. They happened upon a few logs arranged in a circle, likely used by other weary survivors to rest. The duo sat across from each other, each letting out an exhausted sigh. Kakashi's visible eye closed as he gathered his thoughts and meditated, while Sasuke studied the gravel and dirt beneath his feet.

Sasuke broke the silence, retrieving his canteen. "So, Kakashi-sensei," he started. The masked jōnin let out a hum and slowly opened his eye to meet his student's onyx gaze. "What happened with you before you found Naruto? Neither me nor Sakura saw you when he was fighting Pain," he continued, opening his canteen to take a drink.

Kakashi tilted his head slightly at his student before he gave another of his distinctive smiles. "Ah, well. You see, I was incapacitated after fighting a couple of Pain's bodies," he said nonchalantly. Sasuke immediately choked on his water, spitting out the sip he had taken and coughing violently. Kakashi maintained his jovial expression.

Sasuke turned to his sensei with a furrowed brow after he cleared his throat. "What do you mean 'incapacitated'?" he probed, knowing there was more behind that word than simply being unconscious, given Kakashi's way of understating even serious matters. The silver-haired scarecrow merely rubbed the back of his head, his expression shifting slightly to reflect his sheepishness.

"Well, I was stuck in a pile of rubble for a while. Thankfully Chōji and Chōza were there to help me, but Pain did quite a number on us. Even Choza was down," he explained. Sasuke's brow returned to normal as he gave a small nod. "I was the one who sent Choji to warn Lady Tsunade about Pain's abilities, actually," Kakashi continued, his eye going back to its familiar half-lidded state.

Sasuke nodded once more as Kakashi told more of his side of things. "After that, I have no real recollection of anything. The only thing I remember after sending Chōji was waking up feeling better, and seeing green glows all around me, Chōza being one of them. I ran into Sakura after that, who told me about Naruto's fight. I found him in the forest, and the rest you already know since you were there," he finished with a smile beneath his mask.

Sasuke was able to take a drink from his canteen, at last. He sat in silence for a moment, taking in everything his sensei had just told him. He remembered walking with Sakura before the first attack started, helping the civilians to safety, fighting off strange summons, helping ANBU. It was chaos like he had never seen before. Just as he had found Sakura again, he saw the bright flash just before the village was reduced to rubble and a crater. He let out a sigh, trying not to let his mind linger too long on the memories of his home being attacked.

Sasuke turned to the jōnin. "You know, sensei. I don't think I ever thanked you," he stated.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow at this. "Thanked me? For what, Sasuke?" he asked, puzzled.

Sasuke gave a small smile. "For everything, really," he said nonchalantly. Kakashi's eyebrow was fixed in its raised position.

Sasuke gave a small chuckle. "I guess I should explain, huh? What I mean is for everything you've done as our sensei. For pushing us, teaching us the value of teamwork, not giving up on us, encouraging us. If it weren't for you, Naruto, and Sakura, I don't know if I would be where I am now. I very well could have followed a similar or worse path than Itachi," he continued, a far-off look creeping its way into his eyes as he mentioned his brother and the path he nearly set off on. "After our mission to Wave, I really felt lost. I was frustrated and angry. I had convinced myself that I was angry at my brother, but I was frustrated with myself because I blamed myself for what happened that night to my clan. Even though it took Naruto beating the shit out of me in the Valley of the End for me to come to my senses, I'm grateful to him for it. I never would have remembered that he was one of my first friends," he continued, a smile tugging at his lips as he talked about his teammate who was like a brother to him.

Kakashi gave his own smile under his mask. "I was worried about you after that mission, you know," he started. "You were even moodier than usual and were constantly brooding. You were even bickering with Naruto less. That's what really tipped me off. Even Naruto and Sakura had sought me out at one point to express their concern to me about how you were acting. Especially after the Chūnin Exams. I had told Naruto the same thing I told you all after the bell test," he recounted.

Sasuke nodded, remembering that day. "'Those that break the rules are scum, but those that abandon their comrades are worse than scum,'" he said, finishing Kakashi's sentence.

Kakashi gave another smile. "That's right. It looks like Naruto really took that to heart, didn't he?" he asked rhetorically, trying to lighten the mood slightly. Sasuke gave his sensei another smile and a small nod.

Just as the two were finishing their reminiscing, they heard a feminine voice from a distance. "There you two are! Shizune said you weren't far off but I didn't think you'd be over here," the familiar voice called.

Sasuke and Kakashi turned to see their pink-haired teammate making her way towards them, waving. Kakashi waved back as Sasuke stood. "How is he?" He asked urgently.

Sakura put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "He's fine. We hooked him up to a blood transfusion and Shizune is working on repairing his eyes as we speak. After that he'll just need some rest," she explained. The two men let out sighs of relief.

Sakura sat on the log and gave Sasuke an expectant look before he planted himself next to her. She let out her own sigh, turning her attention to Kakashi.

"So, sensei, what happened with you? I meant to ask you but then all that stuff happened," she asked. Kakashi gave another distinct smile as he told her about his situation with Chōji, Chōza, and his fight with Pain. Sakura's eyes were glued to the silver-haired man, nodding now and again to convey that she was listening.

At the conclusion of his account, she let out another sigh and looked between the two men. "I'm just glad you two are okay, and I'm especially glad you found Naruto, sensei," she said as she gave her sensei a small smile. Sasuke hummed and Kakashi returned her smile with a quick nod and his own grin.

The trio sat in silence once again. It's easy to mistake this silence as awkwardness or a lack of camaraderie. However, it was more of a testament to their deep understanding of each other and their experiences as a team; experiences which forged solid and nigh unshakable bonds. Entire conversations could be held amongst themselves without so much as a sound.


A/N: Thanks for reading! Fav if you enjoyed, and please review if you so desire. Chapter 3 coming soon! Thanks again!