The final upload for this story tonight. This is the start of my favorite part...
Enjoy! :D
Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept
Chapter Seventeen – Begin the Preliminaries
Tears immediately rose to Sasuke's eyes as he realized he didn't have to keep that crushing weight in his chest anymore because Gods, Gods somebody else finally knows- and he started to cry, leaning over and wrapping his arms around Kakashi in a clinging hug.
"I'm so sorry, Kakashi!" He sobbed into the man's vest as relief poured over the older man. There had been a deep, underlying fear in his heart– what if he was just imagining things, what if he was WRONG and Sasuke was really, truly dead-?! –and now he knew that yes, he had been right and yes, this creature in his arms was the baby that had been in his arms fourteen years ago, and yes, oh Gods Sasuke was alive- "I wanted to tell you as soon as I saw you! I wanted to tell you and Naruto and Sakura and I wanted to rub it in that stupid idiot's face that took my place, but I couldn't! Oh Gods, I just couldn't-!"
"Hush, Sasuke…" Kakashi breathed to him, in fear someone was in earshot even though the door was closed even though he was still full of awe. His grip around the boy tightened, and he could hear Sasuke try to control his tears. "It's okay. It's okay now." After a moment, he pulled away and Sasuke wiped at his eyes as Kakashi gazed at him. "I understand not shouting it out from every balcony, but why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell Naruto? He thinks you're dead. Every single day he thinks you're dead is another day he suffers."
Sasuke took a tissue from the side of the bed and blew his nose loudly.
"I know, Kakashi!" He exclaimed bitterly. "I know I'm hurting him by keeping this from him, but…" he shrugged helplessly. "Please, please don't tell anyone. Not the Hokage, not Naruto, please-"
"Why don't you want him to know?" Kakashi asked in disbelief. "He was your best friend. You made each other better."
Sasuke took a deep breath, wringing the bed sheets in his hands.
"Because, Kakashi…" he replied sadly, shaking his head with his eyes still gleaming with tears. He took in another deep breath, trying to control them as he rubbed his eyes again. "Because, I…" he swallowed hard. "I'm not… I'm not an Uchiha anymore." He looked up at Kakashi, shaking his head. "I haven't been an Uchiha for four years. I am Sasuke Terranova. The Village Hidden in the Mist is my village. Haku and Inaré are my teammates. If Naruto knew it was me…" He shook his head again, looking away. "He would ask me to stay. He would beg me to, and I can't." He looked back up to Kakashi, and sniffed. "I can't stay. These people are not my people anymore. I owe them nothing."
"There were people here who cared for you-" Kakashi began.
"Not in the way Inaré and Haku do," Sasuke argued simply, cutting him off. "My teammates, Zabuza my teacher, the people of the Hidden Mist Village have showed me more love and more acceptance than I ever felt here."
"What are you talking about? Every single girl in the village was swooning over you-"
"And yet they all held me at arm's length," Sasuke snapped bitterly. "Because I was the last Uchiha. Because I was 'broken'. Because I was 'alone'. They wanted to get into my pants, sure, but none of them ever really loved the real me. They all loved who they thought I was. Naruto was the only one that didn't feel any pity for me. He was the only one that got up right in my face and dared me to show him up." Sasuke chuckled hollowly, shaking his head at the memories. "He was the only one in this village that made me feel like a normal human being. Like I didn't have any big ultimate purpose. I got stronger to wipe that stupid retarded grin off his face, not to avenge my family." He shrugged at Kakashi, smiling helplessly. "With the Village Hidden in the Mist, I have no baggage. Inaré, Haku, and Zabuza are my family. I love them. More than I ever loved my own flesh and blood. I've grown stronger to protect them, not to kill." He sighed as Kakashi silently looked at him. "I can't stay here. There's too much pain, too much guilt. Hurting Naruto by letting him still think I'm dead is better than telling him I'm alive, but that it'll be like I'm still dead because odds are he'll never see me again after this." Sasuke pursed his lips, then stated firmly, "don't make me do that to him, Kakashi. If you tell him, and he asks, I will tell him 'no'. I will not stay just because you two want me to."
Kakashi looked at him for a long moment, and sighed deeply.
"You've changed so much, Sasuke," he stated simply, solemnly. "Look how you've changed. It's like you're shining." He smiled sadly at the boy from beneath his mask, seeing the infant he learned to understand and adore all those years ago all grown up. "I'm so happy for you."
Sasuke cocked his head at Kakashi in question before the door opened and they both turned at the sound. Inaré squealed.
"Ah! You're awake!"
She dashed over, Kakashi scooting back in his chair to give her more room as she lunged at her teammate, wrapping him in a hug. Haku made his way over as well, and Inaré seated herself between Sasuke and the wall as Dagina made room, snuggling him as Haku sat on the bed on Sasuke's other side. Zabuza was a close third, walking in with a bag of takeout and silently handing it to Kakashi. Kakashi took the bag and sniffed at it.
"Mmm, barbeque pork." He stood, headed out the door. "Yummy."
No words were exchanged between him and Zabuza as the gray-headed ninja walked by him, but Kakashi did sneak one last look over his shoulder to catch one last glimpse of Sasuke before he walked out the door, to see that beaming, smiling face that he never saw on the boy that left the Village Hidden in the Leaves that one fateful day four years ago.
Kakashi smiled.
Thank you for not killing him, Zabuza. He thought as he made his way down the hall, almost skipping with the delicious takeout in his hands. Thank you for saving him.
Two days later saw the second exam closing and the remaining teams ushered into something like a gym, with balconies lining the walls and the teachers and the Hokage standing at the far end in front of a mighty statue shaped like a mask. After the Genin were placed in lines in front of the teachers, it was announced that because many teams had passed the first and second exams – many more than they had originally had anticipated – a preliminary tournament was to be had.
Sasuke had completely recovered in the two days, and stood there brightly at attention in an identical change of clothes as what he had been wearing before. Dagina sat at his side, eying everyone except his teammates in absolute distrust.
Looks like Zabuza called it. He thought as the Hokage explained the simple rules: anything goes, death was quite possible, and each ninja would be given a ten-count before they were declared unable to continue and thus eliminated from the exams. This should be simple enough.
He glanced up at the balcony where his teacher stood with arms crossed and smiled playfully at him. Zabuza, seeing the look, nodded and waved slightly to him. The light in Zabuza's eyes was so different from when Sasuke first met him he was almost unrecognizable. Looking around, he spotted Naruto easily enough, and the boy was delighted to see the blonde and his team had made it in as well.
Then he noticed that Sakura's hair was chopped short. He blinked, wondering how that had happened. Hadn't it been long at the start of the second exam?
He didn't care about any of the other teams. Naruto and Sakura looked relatively unharmed, if not a little exhausted, and it was then Sasuke realized that none of the teams would have a chance to rest before the preliminaries would take place. If they were one of the last teams to complete the exam, there was no break. Only a small breather.
Ouch. Tough. He thought dryly. I suppose it was a good thing Orochimaru attacked me after all. Gave us a little time to rest.
After the Hokage was finished talking, the teams were instructed to go up to the balconies to wait until their names were randomly called. As they moved, Kabuto and another of his team stated that they were withdrawing from the exams and exited the room, making Kakashi raise a curious eyebrow. As soon as Sasuke got up to the viewing platform, Naruto made his way over to him.
"It's great to see you're okay!" Naruto exclaimed as he neared. "Kakashi-sensei told me that you were recovering well, but I was almost positive you would be dropped out of the exams!" He grinned. "Good to see you're still around!"
Sasuke smiled brightly at him.
"Of course I would be," he reassured the older boy. "To be dropped from the exams means I would have to go home, and we still haven't gone out for our second round of ramen!" Naruto beamed at him, and Sasuke's heart ached a little as he glanced over at Kakashi, who stood silently next to Sakura and Sai. Sakura, however, was making her way over to Inaré, who met her halfway and engaged her in cheerful conversation, the wolf forever in the girl's shadow. Haku looked over at Sai, saw him scowling, and waved pleasantly at him.
"So it was wild, what you and that snake guy did," Naruto commented as the first names were called- Temari versus Tenten. "You two were like lightning!"
Sasuke laughed.
"How long were you watching before you finally decided to step in and help?" He asked playfully, grinning at the blonde. Naruto shrugged.
"I dunno, it looked like you had it handled. I mean, until you didn't," he replied, almost sheepishly as Sasuke shrugged in reluctant agreement. "Besides, your teammates weren't helping you either. So I figured you wanted it that way."
"I suppose you thought correctly then," Sasuke replied, a little uncomfortably. He tilted his head to the side to dodge a massive ninja star that Tenten had summoned as Naruto jumped. Oh yeah… that's because… He shook his head and smiled at Naruto. "Well, either way, I'm fine and whatever that guy wanted, he didn't get."
And he's never going to. Not if I have anything to say about it.
Naruto's face turned into one of approval, and he nodded.
"Good," he stated. "Guy was a creep." Sasuke laughed, nodding.
"Yes," he replied. "Yes he was."
A few minutes later saw the match over, with Temari as the victor and Tenten being carted away by medics. The next names were Shikamaru and Kin.
"So what happened to your hair, Sakura-chan?" Inaré asked as they stood next to each other, leaning on the railing as they watched the next match begin. Sakura shrugged.
"Another team decided to play dirty to get our scrolls," she replied, her eyes flickering over to Kin with something akin to hatred. "I just did what I had to do."
Inaré blinked at her for a moment before smiling, lifting a hand and running her fingers through Sakura's hair affectionately.
"I like it better short anyway," she stated. "It looks a lot better on you. Makes you look like more of a badass."
Sakura looked at Inaré and beamed at her.
"R-really?" She asked tentatively, eyes sparkling. "I thought it made me look boyish."
"Boyish isn't a bad thing," Inaré reassured her. "You look great."
Sasuke's gaze went to Kakashi, who looked lazily at the second match with his single eye before nonchalantly raising his gaze to connect it with Sasuke's. The boy found himself uncontrollably beaming at his old teacher. They hadn't interacted at all since Sasuke had woken up, and the boy ached to go over there and talk to the man. To find out that his old teacher had such history with him, after so long was… almost surreal. And he knew that he got to experience a softer side to Kakashi that regular people never saw in their entire lives. Kakashi was not one to be so open, and Sasuke felt honored that he had been one of the rare people Kakashi bared himself to. For a moment, he wondered why he hadn't lied to Kakashi too, and denied that he was the long lost Uchiha boy, but then he immediately knew why. Kakashi's voice had been so… hopeful, so painfully sincere… And besides, he had been smart enough to figure it out. Silently, Sasuke wondered how life would've been if Kakashi had actually been allowed to step in when he had needed it most.
"I've heard a lot about your teacher, Kakashi Hatake," Sasuke commented to Naruto, his eyes still lingering on Kakashi for a moment before he looked back to the blonde. "He's a very good man."
Naruto blinked at him and grinned.
"He's a gigantic pain in the ass," he replied cheerfully, making Sasuke laugh - probably a little harder than he should have. "But he's a great teacher. I've learned a lot from him."
"I'm sure he has a lot to teach you," Sasuke stated, almost proudly. "You're really lucky."
"Yeah, I suppose," Naruto breathed, leaning over the railing as he watched the second match finish with Shikamaru as the winner. "As lucky as I can be, I guess."
Sasuke could sense what he was thinking about, and looked away with a frown. Sadly, he closed his eyes.
I can't, Naruto. He thought bitterly. I love my life the way it is. I just… can't.
"Round three! Naruto and Kiba!"
Naruto blinked at the announcement and stretched his arms over his head.
"All right!" He exclaimed. "Get ready, Kiba! I'm gonna kick your ass!" He looked at Sasuke and beamed, grinning from ear to ear. "Wish me luck!"
Sasuke smiled broadly at him.
"Good luck, Naruto."
With that, the blonde jumped down into the ring.
End Chapter Seventeen – Begin the Preliminaries
And so begins the awesome.
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Much love!
DDB
