Kakashi and the group had had a long and interesting couple of days.

It seemed like everytime they got close to either Itachi or Sasuke, they'd been distracted in one way or another. Nothing was working out the way they'd hoped, so Kakashi decided that it was time to return home since they were all really exhausted from Tobi's genjutsus.

However, as they rounded a corner, they were surprised to see Sasuke and his team in the distance as they made their way back to their hideout.

Sasuke, too, was still exhausted from his fight with Itachi and seeing his old team brought up a lot of mixed emotions.

For starters, he had originally hoped to maybe return home with them after defeating Itachi, but now that he knew Itachi's true story, he was still struggling with what to do.

He had a lot of new resentment towards Konoha, and here were his strongest bonds to The Leaf standing right in front of him, save for one.

Shanan was noticeably absent, yet again. Which honestly made him a bit angry. He had warned them not to return without her. It was actually more of a plea, but if there was a chance that they might run into him, then why hadn't she come along with them?

He stood there staring at the group. Trying to decide which emotion he wanted to convey. Be cold and express his resentment and newfound hatred in front of his team? Be warm and express his longing to return home with them and see Shanan? He still wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but their blatant disregard to his warning, even if it had been an obvious bluff, was certainly not helping their case.

"Sasuke! We'd heard you were fighting against Itachi. So you won then, huh?" Naruto yelled out to him. "Not that I ever had any doubt," he said as he smiled.

Sasuke chuckled dryly.

"Don't think flattery will get you anywhere, loser." He panicked. He'd thought to be warm to them, but he wasn't used to it anymore. Had coldness and bitterness really been so successfully ingrained in him that he hadn't even realized it? He slowly walked forward, leaving his group standing about ten feet behind him.

"Sasuke, who are these people?" Sakura asked him. The girl he was traveling with hadn't gone unnoticed by her.

"Don't worry about it," he said shortly. He stood quietly for a few minutes as he glared at each of the people in front of him. He didn't want to look at them in such a way, but Shanan's absence made him feel sick with longing. They were only about twenty feet away, so at least he could speak quietly. "Last time I saw you guys I gave you clear instructions for if we ever met again."

"Look, you jerk! We were-" Naruto started to yell at him.

"Where's Shanan?" Sasuke asked flatly. His heart was beating out of his chest, but he tried not to show the emotions he was feeling as he continued to speak. "I have a hard time believing that she wouldn't have come with you guys to find me. So where is she?!" His voice had inadvertently gotten louder as he spoke and he couldn't control it.

They hadn't really discussed what they would tell him if they ran into him. So nobody knew what to say as they all glanced at Kakashi.

Kakashi hadn't said a word to Sasuke. He just stood there looking at him, seemingly bored, with his hands in his pockets. Unsurprised by seeing him and completely unbothered by his cold demeanor.

Sasuke stood with his head tilted to the side. Still glaring at the group as a whole, waiting for what seemed like forever, for someone, anyone to answer him.

It was Sai that finally broke the silence.

"I expect she's probably home planning her wedding," he said with a happy smile.

Naruto, Sakura and Tenzo all slowly turned their heads to look at Sai incredulously. Each of their faces seemed to have been drained of any and all blood.

Kakashi still had no reaction whatsoever.

However, the expression on Sasuke's face immediately went from unfeeling to frantic as his eyes softened and his mouth fell open.

"What do you mean? Naruto, what does he mean?!" he asked urgently.

"You idiot!" Sakura said through gritted teeth to Sai.

"Somebody tell me! Please! Who is she marrying?!" he begged, fighting back tears.

Kakashi still hadn't reacted or said anything as he shifted on his feet and tilted his head to the side.

"Me," he said nonchalantly.

Sasuke stared right through Kakashi as he tried to make sense of it. Tears started flowing and his face went from hurt to seething anger as he straightened and unsheathed his blade. He'd always felt like Kakashi had been trying to steal her away from him and apparently he had been right to worry.

He looked at Kakashi with more hatred and contempt than he'd ever felt in his entire life, but he kept his voice even.

"You're going to die today, Kakashi," Sasuke said, just loud enough for him to hear, as he readied himself to fight.

Kakashi continued to look at him indifferently and had said all that he'd cared to say. If Sasuke wanted to fight for Shanan then he would fight him. But Sasuke would have to make the first move.

"Stop! Family meeting!" Naruto yelled out to Sasuke as he ran forward.

Sasuke's face softened in surprise as he turned to Naruto. It had been a long time since he'd heard those words, but Shanan had long ago come up with the idea, and he still felt like they should be honored. Before he could even decide whether or not to completely drop his guard, a couple-hundred shadow clones appeared in a ten-Naruto wide circle all around the two of them.

"Sasuke, you need to know what actually happened," Naruto told him breathlessly, having used a ton of chakra to ensure they could have some privacy.

Sasuke couldn't help it. Now that it was just him and Naruto, he broke down and fell to his hands and knees.

"She didn't come," he said quietly as he cried. "If she would've come after me even once, I'd have come home. I really would have." He sat up on his knees and looked at Naruto pleadingly. "Why didn't she come?"

Naruto knelt beside Sasuke and put his hand on his shoulder.

"She didn't wanna hold you back," he told him. "I won't lie and say she'd still be waiting for you, but she really tried for a long time."

"What do you mean?" he asked sadly as his face shook.

Naruto sighed. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be the one to tell you..."

Sasuke wiped his face off as he looked up at Naruto. "No. Tell me. I wanna know everything."

Naruto sighed again as he sat down more comfortably and turned his back to Sasuke.

Sasuke sat and leaned his back against Naruto's. This was how they'd always sat during their family meetings.

"Well, first of all. I left about five or six months after you did so that I could train with Pervy Sage. I've only been back a few months myself. So I wasn't there for any of this. I only know what I've been told and I'm only telling you because you're still my brother."

"Get on with it, will ya?" Sasuke said impatiently, even though he still had tears running down his face.

"Yeah, so. She waited for a long time for you. But she did end up having feelings for someone else that she'd been spending a lot of time with."

"Who?"

"Shikamaru. They were best friends for a while, he was there for her after we all left her and they just kind of fell for each other. I'm really sorry."

"Shikamaru...?" He'd never even seen the two of them speak to one another. "She told you this?" he asked as more hot tears fell.

"No. He did. I wanted to hear his side, because she had a hard time talking about it. He did too, but… he still told me."

"And then what? They broke up?" He couldn't help but clench his jaw as he thought about them.

"No. It's complicated."

"How?"

"Do you remember her headaches?"

"Yeah, why? Does she still have them?"

"No, they stopped right after you left. And you'll never believe what was causing them," he said a bit excitedly.

"Just tell me, dummy."

"Sharingan."

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto for a second before leaning back again. "As in, she has one?"

"Yeah, she absorbs chakras and abilities, ya know?"

"I did... actually."

"Really? Well... she got the Sharingan from you."

Sasuke smirked at that. If he could give her any of his abilities, Sharingan was definitely the thing he'd want her to have.

"Hers is different, though," Naruto continued. "Her eyes stay blue. She can tell when you're lying, she can read emotions and she can access memories."

"I can tell when people are lying to me too, always," he said a bit eagerly.

"Well then, I bet you got that from her. I can use water chakra type thanks to her. But this is where it gets really complicated..."

"I'm listening."

"She has another technique that she accidentally unlocked. She and Shikamaru didn't break up. She didn't fall for Kakashi. She was training her Sharingan on him with the goal of saving him in mind. And well… she accidentally locked the two of them into a genjutsu. It felt like real life to them. They were the same age. They lived their lives together for twenty-five years. They fell in love and got married and even had babies. And... she did save him."

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. He'd never heard of such a genjutsu.

Naruto continued. "And then when they woke up. Shanan's memory from before was gone."

Sasuke's eyes widened at that. He was suddenly, completely distressed as he turned to look back at Naruto again.

"What do you mean?!" he asked impatiently.

"She…" Naruto sighed apologetically. "She doesn't remember you, Sasuke..."

Sasuke stared at the ground with a tormented expression on his face. He suddenly felt lost and empty. She didn't even remember him? Never mind that she'd moved on, how could he win her back if she didn't even know who he was?

"Look... she can get her memories back. She can perform a technique on people that'll show her all of their memories together. She'll never remember anything from when she was alone, but she was never alone much anyway," he said as he smiled softly.

"So... she can remember me?" he asked as his chin quivered. "What does she know about me?"

Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled sharply, a bit exasperated.

"Well, because of the situation, she only really knows that she grew up with the two of us and that we were all really close. She doesn't know that you two had a relationship. Nobody really talks to her about you, because it would just confuse the hell out of her since you aren't there."

Sasuke looked a bit angry and hurt now. "Nobody bothered to tell the girl that I love about how we were dating or that she loved me?"

"Look, even if you were there, it would just confuse her even more! She basically has two people living inside of her at all times that she struggles with," he said a bit annoyed.

"What the hell does that mean?!"

"It means Shikamaru let her unlock her memories of him and she struggles with her feelings for him and Kakashi all the time. It's so hard for all three of them. Both guys do their best to separate the two versions inside of her and Shanan has to hate herself for loving two people as it is. Even I can see that!"

"Like I care. She loved me first. I know she'll choose me."

"You're a real piece of work, you know that, Sasuke? This wouldn't even be an issue if you hadn't left. She would've unlocked her Sharingan and you would've been the one training her on it. She wouldn't have moved on to Shikamaru. You'd be together and everything would be easier for her, for both of you."

"I don't have to take this," he said as he stood up. "Not from a childish know-nothing like you."

Naruto jumped up angrily. "You're a selfish jerk and always will be," he said matter of factly as he made his way through the crowd of clones before stopping and looking back. "Shanan asks about you constantly. She can't wait to meet you. Just make sure that when she does, you don't disappoint her." And with that he walked back to the rest of the group.

Sasuke didn't follow him, but Naruto left the clones there to give Sasuke time if he needed it. However, once the clones released the jutsu, he saw that Sasuke had walked off in the opposite direction almost immediately. Still clearly angry and very confused.

A/N- Drop a review if you haven't yet. Would love to know how people feel about it so far.