REWRITTEN

(On the Outskirts of the Wave village)

"Just one more." Naruto muttered as he picked up a rather large rock and heaved it over to the pile he and his team, minus Kakashi, had made. In front of the pile was freshly patted dirt, for a body had just been buried there. There was a strong wind going by that day, and the clouds were gray and dreary, as if to compliment the scene going on below them.

Finally, Sasuke grabbed the katana of the fallen man, and stuck it into the pile of rocks, making sure to stab through several of the larger ones to insure that it would stay there for the rest of its lifetime.

The three ninja stood in front of the grave, not daring to say a word. The man, Nikku, had fought with his life to help them achieve their goal, when he could have left whenever he felt fit. Instead, he fought to the end, only to fight someone much better than him in both skill, and size.

"I'm sorry." Naruto finally spoke, "Nikku, if I had known Kisame was there, this wouldn't have happened."

"Naruto, don't blame yourself," Sakura mumbled, "It was unexpected."

Naruto shook his head, "No. I wanted to change this timeline so we could save lives! You know how many people we probably killed last night Sakura? You know how many of them probably had families, and we tore them away from their loved ones because of one man."

"They were thugs. They probably-" Sakura began, but was cut off almost instantly.

"Both of you!" Sasuke shouted, "Do you think being a ninja is a game? Our job is to kill for whoever hires us! We're required to do these kinds of things." He spat out, "I don't see how you could have become so powerful if you're always going to cry after each fight." His features soften slightly, "If we hadn't have done this, a lot of terrible things would have happened here."

Naruto glared at Sasuke, but saw a point in what he was saying, "You're right."

A few raindrops began to fall at that moment, splattering across anything on the ground. None of them had bought anything to cover themselves, leaving them exposed to the rain.

Sakura leaned on Naruto, "Let's go." She whispered to him. Naruto simply nodded.

"Sasuke, you coming?" Naruto shouted over his shoulder when he and Sakura were a fair distance away from the sight.

Sasuke shook his head at first, and then said, "I'm going to stay for a moment longer." Naruto turned afterwards, he and Sakura vanishing in the horizon.

Now being the only one there, Sasuke fell to the ground, "I didn't mean to snap at him like that. Damn it!"

Silence was all that answered him.

His thoughts wandered to what Sakura had told him, and he gritted his teeth in anger, "Why don't they trust me? I am doing everything in my power to get them to trust me again!" He slammed his fist down, "No, calm down." He allowed himself to breathe in and out a few times.

"I understand why they don't trust me." He thought aloud, "It's ironic though, that you of all people." He said nodding his head towards Nikku's grave, "was able to gain their trust so quickly. You were actively working for the enemy, though; I suppose I was as well." He was silent for a little longer, "I am sorry for disrespecting you." He sat up and leaned against a tree near the grave, and lowered his head into his arms.

"Sasuke, are you going to come back?"

He looked up to see Kaiza standing above him, "I will in a little bit."

"Here." Kaiza sat down next to him with an umbrella he brought out, "I couldn't help but overhear you talking."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I don't know what you meant by saying you betrayed them now, or even last night when we were talking. You're only a kid; not even ten years old, but you act like an adult would. It's a real shock to meet a kid like you to be honest. I figured they would have nothing to hate you for at this age."

Sasuke looked to the ground, "It's a secret that I cannot tell."

"Official ninja business, eh?"

"Yes."

"That's ok with me." He allowed it to be silent for a little longer before sighing, "You're not easy to talk to."

"I don't want to talk."

"You kind of remind me of myself when I was young. On my team I always tried to act calm and collected, and never helped them through. Now I am not saying that you do it, and in fact, it seems like you go out of your way to help them. I just want you to know, that whatever you did couldn't have been as bad as what I did to my own."

"I doubt it."

"Oh?" The man smiled grimly, "I was simply a Genin, it was my first C-rank mission, and we were sent to give a message to a nearby village." He stopped smiling, "It was a simple mission, or so we thought. We got ambushed on the way there, and due to me my whole team was slaughtered."

"What? Just due to you?"

"I had to choose between my own life, or my team's."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "What?"

"I wish I could go back to then." He sighed, "We were trained since the academy that the mission comes before the team, and I was willing to live up to it. It was after I completed that mission that I stopped being a ninja, and it was for almost ten years that it has haunted me."

"How'd you get over it?"

"I went to visit their grave." He said, "I stood above them and begged for their forgiveness. That day, I could swear I heard them forgive me." He laughed, "I may be insane, but it was what I had been waiting for. For a decade I have been moping around, and only then did I decide to ask them to forgive me. After that, I met Tsunami, and I swore I would never make that bargain again. Gatou threatened this place, and I refused to allow him to take it away from these people."

"I see."

"You're wondering how it relates to you?" He asked, but didn't wait for an answer, "The moral of the story, kid, is to talk to them about your concerns. Things won't get better on their own; you have to make it happen. From what it sounds like is that they don't know you're having issues about this. Let them know, and talk it over." He stood up, "Now come on, do you really want to stay out here in the rain?"

"I don't know." Sasuke groaned, "This is very serious."

Kaiza sighed, hoping he had gotten through to the kid, "Ok, but here." He handed him the umbrella, "You don't want to get sick out here, ok?"

Sasuke nodded, "Thank you."

"No problem, it's the least I could do after all you and your team has done for this village."

Sasuke nodded as Kaiza walked back to his home. However, he still continued to brood on the topic, not sure if it was something he should concern the others about.

(Tsunami's house)

It came as no surprise when the four ninja were escorted to the rooms they were staying in, and didn't come out for several days. This confused Tsunami and Tazuna, but Kaiza's unwillingness to speak about it made them know that it must have been something very important.

The two men that were tied up in the Kitchen were gone, Kaiza and Naruto forced them out of the house when they had arrived, and now only an eerie silence floated around the place.

It was on the second day after the event, did one of the ninja finally exit their room.

Naruto slowly walked down the stairs, yawning as he did so. The sun was just rising and he had been awakened by it, so he decided to see how the family was doing.

"Naruto?" Tsunami questioned when he entered the kitchen, where the table was set up for breakfast. Tazuna and Kaiza both looked up at the boy. "You're up early." She mentioned as she went back to work.

No one dared talk about the event to Naruto, Kaiza just glanced at the boy and both nodded towards each other, insuring that their lips would be sealed about the event for a long time to come. "Tsunami, what's that smell?" Naruto asked as he sat down next to Kaiza.

"It's breakfast!" She chimed cheerfully, despite the almost depressing mood around the table, "Would you care for some?"

Naruto allowed a large cheery smile to grace him face, "Yes please!" Any sign of sorrow was now off his face, and replaced with excitement, almost childish excitement.

When Naruto did that, the dreadful atmosphere suddenly changed, Tazuna chuckled at the behavior being shown and leaned back to finally relax for the first time in days. Kaiza patted the boy on the back, and began some small chat with the boy.

Naruto wasn't wearing his ninja attire that morning; seeing his mission was already completed there was really no point. He had on a white shirt, and tan shorts, he left his headband in his room. Nothing at all fancy, and made him look just like a normal child of his age group.

The day went on easily, in the forest Naruto hung out with Inari who claimed that he wanted to be just like Kaiza several times and tried to walk on trees with Naruto laughing at each failure, of course, not really boosting the child's confidence.

"Naruto! If you can do this so easily why don't you teach me?" He finally cried out after another failure.

Naruto got into his thinking position, which was basically sitting down with his legs crossed, his elbows on his knees, and his knuckles holding his head up, while his face was screwed up with concentration. Finally he got up and said, "Well kid, it takes time, and I don't think I'll be here to teach you the whole process…"

"I don't care! Just teach me how to do it and I'll learn the rest!" Inari said. Excitement was evident in his voice.

Naruto, not knowing Kaiza didn't want Inari to know how simply shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

They stayed in the forest for a majority of the day, due to Inari begging Naruto to keep helping him perfect the move until he could actually make it up a couple steps. Unfortunately, this took Naruto a long time to do, for Inari had no clue how to use chakra or what it was.

Finally Naruto called it off when the sun was getting close to setting, claiming that Tsunami must be getting worried.

Luckily, Inari agreed to that.

The next day, Sasuke and Sakura both were awake and as well as Naruto was. They acted the same, not wanting to remember the events of the night, and kept completely quiet about it.

Sakura's head was down, but if one was to look at her one would see the bags still under her eyes from staying up during the nights, probably thinking of the event. She decided to wear normal clothes, much like Naruto did, a red shirt, and some shorts similar to Naruto's.

Of the three children, the one that didn't look like crap was obviously Sasuke. He had a look of indifference on his face, his eyes were glazed, as if he was thinking, and his mouth would twitch every time he stole glance at either of his teammates. He did it so quickly however, that no one noticed it.

Unlike his other two teammates, Sasuke came out in his ninja outfit, he walked slower than usual, so it was safe to assume he had put more weights into his suit to advance further. He sat down and began to eat the food available on the table.

The four family members there all glanced at each other. Kaiza held Inari's shoulder, as if not wanting him to get near the three children. Tsunami meanwhile was still serving the food while Tazuna sighed when the peaceful mood that had been there for a few days went away with the arrival of Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto asked standing next to her, "Can I sit next to you?"

She looked up and grinned, "Please do."

He sat next to her, and gave her a hug, "Did you sleep well at all?" He whispered to her.

"No." She whispered back.

Sasuke watched the exchange, knowing they had to be keeping something from him. What are they talking about? He felt anger rise, but quelled it quickly, knowing it wouldn't get him anywhere. I am just being paranoid.

Once the two parted Naruto asked Sasuke the same thing, "Sasuke, you alright?"

"Wonderful." He replied, trying his best not to glare at the boy.

Naruto nodded, but not without giving Sasuke a suspicious look. He turned his attention to Kaiza who asked, "When is that man, Kakashi, getting up?"

Sakura spoke up, "Given his current condition, I'd say at least a week. He suffered high chakra exhaustion, and many minor wounds, and several more severe wounds. Luckily for him, I was around the field, so I could heal him long enough to keep him from getting into a much more severe state. All he needs now is rest."

Kaiza nodded, "That's good. We don't mind your company at all." He smiled at the three, "Stay here as long as you want, and go visit the town whenever you feel the need to. When your sensei wakes up, then you can begin to plan when you'll be leaving."

Sakura was right, it was a week later before Kakashi was up, but not well enough to travel.

All his students were in his room, sitting around him, watching his reaction, finally when nothing was being said, Naruto broke the silence and said, "Kakashi, you feeling well?"

"I feel absolutely fine." He replied and smiled, or so they thought, for his mask, once again, hid all his emotions from them.

Naruto smiled embarrassment somewhat obvious in his face, "Oh yeah, I guess you did just wake up from some horrible conditions."

"When will we leave, sensei?" Sasuke asked, his hands crossed over his chest, "I want to get back to training as soon as I can."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, noticing something different with him, but he just couldn't pin it. "Sasuke," He asked nervously, "Are you feeling ok? You seem to be acting differently."

Sakura looked down guiltily, already knowing why the boy was being different. I should have said all that stuff to him in the forest. Stupid, stupid…

Sasuke almost felt like smiling when he saw the guilt crossing Sakura's face, but didn't show it. "Kakashi-sensei, I'll be outside training until we leave. I'll only be here to eat and sleep." He glared at Sakura, "Don't expect to see me at all."

"Sasuke!" Naruto got up, "Sasuke! Let me train with you!"

Sasuke turned around and quickly lashed his arm out, "NO! I just want to be alone right now." He looked downcast, "Please."

"S-Sasuke." Naruto whispered, "What's wrong?"

Kakashi spoke up, "Sasuke, I don't understand what your problem is, but don't allow it to affect the team."

Sasuke glanced at Kakashi, his mind telling him to apologize to Naruto, but he could faintly feel some other thing telling him to ignore the man and walk out. "Naruto," He looked up, "I am fine." He had activated his Sharingan, and his eyes turned completely cold, almost void of life.

Once he left the room, Sakura quickly stood up, "I'll be right back."

"What happened to Sasuke?" Naruto asked, looking towards Kakashi, wondering if he had any answers.

Kakashi was lying down and sighed, "Who knows? It might have been puberty." He laughed, "But seriously, I think Sakura has something to do with it, did you see how guilty she looked when you asked Sasuke what was wrong?"

"No, I wasn't paying attention to her then." Naruto sighed, "I hope she didn't do anything stupid. This Sasuke, he reminds me of the one that ran off to Orochimaru too much."

(Outside Tsunami's house)

It seemed as though the storm that had started when they buried Nikku was still going, it was very unusual for a storm to be going on for over a week, with only a few breaks. Sasuke walked out into the storm, looked up and grinned, this fits my mood perfectly. He almost felt the need to laugh for some reason.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called out from the doorway, "Why are you doing this?"

"Why do you think?" Sasuke glared at her, he still had his Sharingan on, "You haven't forgotten what you said to me have you?"

Sakura looked down, "Look! What I said was wrong. You have helped us so much, and I shouldn't have said any of that to you! You're good, please forgive me!"

Sasuke laughed slightly, "You think a little apology will be sufficient?"

"What!" Sakura shot up, giving him her own glare, "When you stabbed Orochimaru and turned towards us that's all you said! You know what? We took you in anyway!"

"I don't care!" Sasuke roared, "Look, I just want to be alone right now! Why are all of you thinking something is wrong with me?"

"Sasuke," Sakura sighed, "It's my fault you're like this, please, let me make it up to you."

Sasuke sighed, "Just leave me be."

She watched as he walked off, and she knew at that moment that she had probably said the most stupid thing possible to him in the forest that night. I really hope I can turn this around. She watched his retreating form; I should just give him his space for now.

(Outside of Wave country)

It took another five days for Kakashi to be healthy enough to walk on his own and not have his students assist him with it. In those five days Naruto and Sakura began to say good bye to the people there they have gotten close to, and packed what little things they did bring.

Sasuke did just the opposite. He stayed away from everyone and trained most of the time, ignoring Naruto and Sakura in their attempts to get him to listen to them.

Now, as they walked out of the Country they had been working in, Kakashi could see the uneasiness Naruto and Sakura were expressing towards Sasuke.

"Naruto," Sakura said as she got to his side, making sure to be a fair distance from her other teammates, "I need to tell you something,"

Naruto glanced at her, "Is it about Sasuke?"

"Yes." She sighed, "I think he's acting like this because of something I told him. When we were in the forest before we attacked Gatou, I admitted my feelings that I still didn't trust him. I think he didn't take it very well."

Naruto stopped walking, "Sakura?" She noted the lack of the chan, and the distaste that was on his tongue as his face twisted into an angry scowl, "Why the hell would you do that." He asked, his usual goofiness on situations was completely gone.

"I don't know…" She mumbled, feeling like a child being caught with her hand in the cookie jar, "I'm sorry…" She felt a sting coming to her eyes.

Naruto walked ahead, "Damn it. You know, I think I understand why Sasuke doesn't like us anymore! He's worked his ass off for both of us and you just go and pull that stunt!" He turned towards her when Kakashi and Sasuke were far ahead of them now, "WHY! I trusted him with my life and now you just turned him back into his horrible little 'I am stupid and dumb act'!"

She looked down, not knowing what to say.

"You know what kind of lasting effects this could have? He was the one LEADING us through this new timeline, and now you just had to go blow that option off from us didn't you!" Naruto yelled, he could feel Kyuubi's chakra coming out, but he didn't care, "You are so damn STUPID sometimes!"

He felt like punching her hard, but couldn't manage to do it so he turned towards the next target, which happened to be an innocent tree and screamed as he punched it, blowing a hole right through it.

"Naruto," Sakura said, tears falling from her eyes and hitting the ground now, "I didn't mean for this to happen…"

"You better not have meant for it." He said, he walked ahead, not bothering to comfort her. She deserves this. He thought to himself, but could feel a pain grow in him saying he should go back and hold the crying girl, No, She better pray that we can get him to trust us again.

He sent one last glance at Sakura, seeing her on the ground supporting herself, tears evident as a soft whimper of his name came from her.

"I'm sorry." He said, going on and leaving her to her own sorrow, only adding to his own.

(Konoha Village, the next day)

The team had finally gotten back to the village, and it looked normal to all viewing it from the outside, but Kakashi necessarily wasn't on the outside of his own team. He could tell all of his students were ignoring one another, and this team was going to fall apart if something wasn't done soon.

This doesn't look so good. He thought to himself as he watched all of them.

Naruto wore a guilty expression on his face and absolutely refused to look at Sakura, or even speak to her, which was definitely odd to Kakashi, considering that they loved each other more than any other relationship he knew. Naruto tried to communicate with Sasuke, but it was all in vain as he simply ignored the boy.

Sakura had a glazed over expression on her face. She almost had no emotion; it was unlike Sasuke though, who always seemed to be angry, no, she had a look of nothingness. It was hard to explain, she just seemed to not care what happened anymore. She spoke to no one, and only grunted when Kakashi gave her any orders.

Lastly there was Sasuke, who Kakashi had seen turn very sour towards his teammates for some odd reason. He ignored both Naruto and Sakura, and had a determined look in his eyes. He was always constantly training when he wasn't sleeping or eating.

We have a lot of work to do before we can resume any team exercises, Kakashi thought, "Well team, ready to go give the mission report?"

"Hum." Sakura responded, not even giving him a glance.

"Sure." Naruto said, looking towards the Hokage tower.

Sasuke was silent, but it was obvious that he would follow the order.

Kakashi led the Team to the Hokage tower, where they finally met with a familiar face once more. Sarutobi was sitting in his desk, and smiled when he saw who had come in. "It's good to see all of you again." He claimed and asked, "Did the mission go well?"

"We completed it the day we got there. However, our injuries required us to stay for a little while longer. We were able to save Kaiza, and killed Gatou. There was just one problem during the whole time, and that was a ninja Gatou hired." Kakashi explained, "Naruto said that he was a part of Akatsuki."

"I see. Are you three doing well?" He asked, turning to the three children.

Of the three, Naruto was the only one that tried to act no different from when they left, as he got a huge smile on his face and claimed, "Absolutely fine old man!"

Sakura and Sasuke didn't respond to him. Sarutobi looked at the children with interest; it was unusual for Sakura and Sasuke to not say anything to him from the three months he had gotten to know them.

He looked at their positions, and noted that Sasuke was in the middle, a cold expression on his face. Both his eyes were narrowed at nothing, and it seemed to others that he was examining the desk the Hokage was sitting at. Naruto had a smile on his face and was on the left of Sasuke, and seemed to be turned away from Sakura, as though he didn't want to look at her. Sakura was on the right of Sasuke, and only had a blank expression on her face.

What is this? Sarutobi pondered, "You three are dismissed, I'll have Kakashi here detail the mission for me. Why don't you all go eat at Ichiraku together?"

They ignored him and walked out of the room.

"What happened?" Sarutobi asked, looking towards Kakashi.

"I'm not sure. They were fine when we got there, but afterwards Sasuke started turning away from his teammates, then when we were walking back, Naruto must have said something to Sakura to get her to act like that." He sighed, "Sometimes, they claim they're not children, but they certainly act like it."

Sarutobi looked out the window, "That is not good."

"I know. I was going to have them do team training today, but with their current bitterness for one another, I don't think we'll be able to do that until they settle things with each other."

"Unfortunately so." Sarutobi sighed looking out the window, "They claim they could prevent disaster from hitting this village. Even though I am letting them think I'll allow them to lead us, I'll be right there with several ANBU watching them. We can't completely trust them… Not after Orochimaru."

Kakashi nodded, "I agree. Though, the time I have spent with them, they seem trustworthy to me, I don't think they'll betray the village from how venomously they all seem to want to protect it, especially Naruto."

"Well, that is a good sign." The third said, "I just hope they get over their little feud with one another."

"We all do."

(Ichiraku Ramen)

Only Naruto went to the Ramen stand. He, unlike the other two, didn't show his weakness to others. When he was angry or pissed off, he blow off his cap a little, then bottle it up completely inside of himself until he forgot about it, or use it again if the person continued to annoy him.

Of course, he felt incredibly guilty for what he did to Sakura; he regretted his decision ever since he had made it. If he had known it would make Sakura into a similar clone of Sasuke, he definitely wouldn't have done it, but like Sakura, he made a misjudgment.

"And now I'm paying the price, and I just made it worse for her." He sighed.

"What was that Naruto?" Teuchi asked as he made the boy a bowl of ramen.

Naruto shook his head, "Old man, I think I made a really big mistake."

"Does it have to do with the reason why your two teammates aren't here with you?" The man asked, "I was expecting to see that Sakura girl here especially, considering the relation you two had, and the Sasuke boy, he was you best friend, right?"

"You're sharper than I give you credit for." Naruto laughed bitterly, "Yeah, it has something to do with them."

Teuchi put some Ramen in front of Naruto, "Well, it a nice day with the sun shining and I still have seven hours before I close up, so why don't you tell me about it?" He leaned on the counter, listening.

Naruto took some chopstick and began to eat. Once he gulped down a bit of Ramen he sighed, "Well, Sakura-chan told Sasuke that we didn't trust him about, uh, classified information, and it made him turn into a cold asshole. Well when she finally admitted what she did to me, I got pissed at her and yelled at her and left her crying alone."

"I know what I did was wrong, and now she is acting like a zombie refusing to speak or do anything really." Naruto mumbled, "I want to apologize to her, but I'm afraid she's just going to yell at me and go on and do her own thing like Sasuke is right now."

Teuchi looked deep in thought, "Well, you've definitely got a problem there." He laughed, but once he saw Naruto wasn't he stopped, "Ahem! Anyways, if she really loves you like it seemed like before this mess happened, I think she'll go back to normal after giving a nice long beating for leaving her crying like you said. After that though, I think she'll go back to normal and you two will not have bad blood between the two of you."

"With Sasuke though, you said he went and turned all cold towards both of you when it was simply Sakura telling him this information?" He asked.

"That's right." Naruto answered.

He nodded, "Well, it seems to me if you try to tell him that you trusted him all along, then he may open up to you, but maybe not her."

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"Would you?" Teuchi redirected the question back at the boy, knowing what his response would be.

"Touché." Naruto sighed.

He continued to eat his ramen, but not near as quickly as he normally would, "I know, maybe to make it up to her I should get some flowers or something. For Sasuke, I bet he'll want something completely different."

"What is it that he loves the most?" Teuchi suggested.

"Training, violence, missions, getting stronger, probably blood," Naruto began to list off.

Teuchi laughed, "Well, just give him a vial of your blood then!"

Naruto didn't even hear him as he continued his list, "Fights-" He stopped at that, "Maybe I could offer him a match, and throw it so he'll win? He always complained that he was weaker than me before he went and ran off to Oroch-" Naruto slapped his hands against his mouth, praying Teuchi didn't hear him.

Teuchi raised an eyebrow, but seeing Naruto reaction he whispered, "I am guessing that was part of the classified information?"

"Yes," Naruto admitted, "I trust you old man, please don't tell anyone else!" He brought up his pinky, "Swear that to me."

Teuchi smiled and brought up his own pinky, "Sure thing kiddo!"

(Haruno residence)

Sakura had walked to her home, where she hadn't seen her mother for almost four months. "Mom," She called out, "I'm home."

The place was a decent sized home. When you entered you'd have three options of where to go; in front of you would be the stairs, which led up to the bedroom, to the left would be the living room with a couch and other things, to the right would lead to the Kitchen, with a large table in the middle of it.

Sakura hit the looked to her left and saw her mother get up from the couch. "Sakura? You look well." She said as she walked over to the girl, "So… Uh, how was your mission?" She asked.

"Mom," Sakura said, tears filling her eyes, "I'm sorry!"

Her mother looked down at the child, she had wanted to avoid this conversation, but knew now that it had to be done, "I'm sorry too Sakura. I won't tell you who you can be with from now on, just as long as you visit me more often than once every four months."

She knelt down and hugged her daughter, and Sakura did the same.

Her mother spoke up, "Did- did you bring the de… Naruto with you?"

Sakura shook her head from within her mother's grasp, "No."

"Why?" Her mother asked, knowing her daughter was very upset about something, "Did he do anything to you?" Venom was in her voice; she didn't like how close her daughter was to Naruto.

"No," She cried, "It was my fault. I made Sasuke hate us, and now Naruto hates me because of it! I loved him though… it hurts." She continued to cry out.

Her mother was about to yell at her for loving the boy, but thought against it. It was the first time she had seen her daughter in months, and she was breaking down right in front of her. She knew Sakura had no one else to go to, so she had gone to the one that had raised her since she was born.

"Sakura," She whispered, "I don't know Naruto very well at all, but from what I have seen of him, I believe that he is regretting this decision he made. He doesn't hate you at all."

"Yes he does!" She cried out, "And now our team is going to fall because we all won't talk to each other. I didn't mean to make Sasuke like this! I really didn't mean it, Naruto is right; I was so stupid to do that."

Her mother held her tighter, "You're not stupid Sakura." she gently brushed her daughter's hair with her hand to calm her down, "It was only a mistake." Truthfully, she had no clue what had happened, but with Sakura calming down, she knew this technique was working.

"I can't fix it, I already tried to apologize to Sasuke, but he ignored me. I think I screwed us over! All those years Naruto and I have wasted looking for him back then, all of it was useless!" Sakura said, "Sasuke shouldn't have gone to him in the first place. Our team could have been nice! We wouldn't have to come back in time to do this…"

Her mother had absolutely no clue what she was saying now, but kept it to herself. If her daughter was going insane, at least she'd have something to tell the doctor about. She's not going insane, she's just really distressed. She continued to tell herself as she held Sakura.

"Sakura please, just relax." She told her daughter.

(Uchiha district)

It was the first time since he had been in this timeline that he had actually entered his home completely alone without his friends.

He went directly to the room where both of his parents had died, and sat right next to where their corpses were back then. The wooden floor here was darker than the rest, as if the blood had stained it.

Sasuke shook his head of the thought, "Mom, Dad." He began. He felt stupid, but back when he was this age, this is what he did to calm down and think things over, and it usually always worked for him. "I'm back from the mission."

"It started out well, my two… friends were goofing off as usual, and I went to patrol and found our client Kaiza. He was a nice enough man, and was also a ninja as well. Anyways, we were ambushed on our way to their house, and these thugs nearly took us out. If it weren't for them I would have died." He thought back to Naruto and Sakura then.

"I wish they trusted me, I don't want to be an avenger again. It was lonely life, and when I was with them, I felt completed once more, like I was with you two again." He rubbed the darkened floor, "After that though, Sakura told me that they didn't trust me at all," He pounded his fist against the floor.

"We completed the mission easily. Though there were some difficulties. After the mission I just wanted to be alone, but they wouldn't leave me alone at all. Though, Naruto and Sakura aren't speaking anymore either. Back on the walk home, I saw both of them stopping behind us and thought they were talking about me, but it ends up Naruto comes up with a pained look in his eyes, and Sakura later looked as though she was crying."

He thought back on the event that he just said, "Why was she crying?" He asked to the space in front of him, silence answered him once more.

"Was it because of me?" He asked once more, getting no answer, "Maybe what I am doing is wrong. What would you tell me mother? You always wanted me to be happy, what will make me happy here!"

He slammed both his fist on the floor and cried out, "GOD DAMNIT!! What do I do?"

He remembered Kaiza, "Talk to them?" He looked hesitant, "Will they even listen to me now?" He shook his head, and just sat there thinking once again.

(Konoha, Flower shop)

After talking with Teuchi, Naruto knew exactly what to do. He had to make both of his teammates back to normal. For Sakura, he knew Ino could help him. Of course, that was if she was managing the shop and willing to.

Please let her be willing to help. He silently prayed as he looked up at the shop.

Outside of it there were flowers arranged everywhere, and even more flowers were hanging inside the shop window, and he could only imagine another boatload inside as well. He really didn't want to do this, especially with Ino helping, but knew to get Sakura back from being a zombie he had to do this.

He opened the door and walked up to the main desk and rang the bell that was conveniently there.

"Hold on! Be right there!" A girl called out, Naruto sighed in relief, it was definitely Ino.

"Take your time!" He called back.

"Naruto?" She called, when no answer came she yelled, "Oh right! I'll be right up there!" He heard some shuffling and saw some blonde hair over the counter before hearing a small bang and a box being put at the base of the desk, and she climbed up to be able to manage things on the desk.

Naruto smiled and gave a small wave, "Hi."

"What can I do for you Naruto?" She asked, her blue orbs digging into his, he continued staring until he snapped out of it.

"Ino, I need some flowers." He said, shifting his feet.

Ino's eyes widened, "NO WAY! You're in a flower shop, and you want FLOWERS?"

Naruto glared at her, not appreciating the sarcasm, "Yes. I need some flower that says 'I'm sorry'. Do you know anything like that?"

"You're sorry? For what exactly?" Ino asked, trying to pry for more answers.

"I'm sorry, to Sakura for…" He knew Ino was only nine, and thus only had the vocabulary and understanding of one, so he said, "For being mean to her."

Ino's eyes widened, "Why were YOU of all people mean to her? In the academy you were always chasing her around wanting to date her, and then suddenly this happened?"

"Yes," Naruto sighed, "Look, can you just get the flowers? I need to do this soon, or else our team may be in jeopardy!"

Ino glanced at him with curious eyes, but decided not to pry further, it looked like she wasn't going to get anything more from the boy anyway, He's so weird, she thought to herself as she looked through the flowers, I wonder why Sakura of all people likes him.

(Haruno residence)

"I'm going out." Sakura said as she put on a jacket she had in her home. It was beginning to get slightly cold outside, the sunny weather twisted into a dark sky with gray clouds. More rain? She thought to herself in disdain.

"Want me to go with you?" She silently said, not wanting to see her daughter run away from her again.

Sakura shook her head but smiled, "No, I need to speak to Naruto. Even if he hates me, I've got to set this straight before it turns into a whole mess. Our team can't afford us to all not listen to one another. We need to work together, now, and always."

She shook her head at her daughter, "Ok. Go make things right."

Sakura exited her house and sighed happily, she was glad that her mother was now someone she could turn to for help, but when her thoughts went to darker matters about her team, her face fell. I've got to be strong! She told herself as she walked forth.

"Who can I go to for help with this?" She asked herself, "Ino? Well she's a bit younger now and probably won't have good advice." She thought it over and sighed, it was not like her list was very long outside of her mother and team.

I could always look for Shikamaru. That was true, besides the fact that she had no clue where she could find him at this time of day. Ino it is then, She sighed once more and walked forth to the shop she always ran during the afternoon.

A little later, she was at the shop, and was about to enter it when she heard a familiar yell coming from within it, "INO! I don't need that much! I'm not rich you know!"

"Well, Mr. I will do anything for her boy, what do you want? You said you wanted to say sorry and impress her, but if you get her too little she'll think you're a cheap bastard!" Ino yelled at him.

"WHAT! Sakura-chan wouldn't do that! She knows that I don't have much money to my name!" Naruto yelled.

Sakura froze; did he call me Sakura-chan? Does that mean he forgives me? She continued to listen to the two argue from within the place, pressing her ear against the door.

"Idiot! I don't know what she saw in you! You're cheaper than Choji when he tries to 'buy' food from people and never pays them back!"

"At least she'll know I put my whole heart and soul into it!"

Sakura smiled and felt tears leave her eyes; she had enough of what they were saying and decided to enter pretending she didn't hear a single word. She laughed a little before putting on the same face she had when she entered the village earlier that day.

"Well!" Ino was yelling from behind the counter with a ton of flowers in front of her, but she heard the door open and looked up, a grin going across her face, she's here! "Hey Sakura!" She called out to the newcomer.

Naruto froze that instant. Oh shit! He turned towards Sakura and saw the same glazed expression from earlier, now or never, "Sakura-chan," He looked down, "When you told me what you told Sasuke, I acted only out of anger. I know it was wrong, and I have regretted my decision the whole time it was done! I just didn't know how to apologize to you! I know you probably hate me because of it, but even if you do, just talk to us! We need our team to work! I don't care what you do," Now to do what Teuchi told me to do, He got on the ground and began to beg, "Please. Forgive me."

Ino was quite impressed with his performance, not bad, She shook her head at him.

Sakura only continued to give him the same stare, which began to concern him. He looked up slightly, and asked, "Sakura-chan are you-." He began to say, but was tackled down by her in a huge bear hug.

"I forgive you!" She cried into his shoulder, happy that he didn't hate her. The two sat on the floor for several moments. Ino didn't disturb them and only went in the back to give them some time alone. "Naruto I'm so sorry!" She cried into his shoulder.

Naruto gently brushed her hair, "No Sakura I'm sorry. I forgive you for telling Sasuke what you did. What has come to pass has passed." He slowly got up, pulling Sakura up with him, "We need to go make Sasuke part of our group again, we need him."

Sakura nodded, "Yep." Naruto motioned for her to follow her and began to walk out, but before that happened, she twisted him around and gave him a light kiss on the lips before giggling and walking out in front of him, all evidence of her tears were now gone.

Naruto only smiled, I like this.

(Uchiha district)

Sasuke sat on top of his house, looking at the sky, which was quickly getting worse; he could begin to feel a light sprinkle. "Why do you have to do this when I am always in a crappy mood?" He asked the sky, not really expecting to be answered.

"Possibly because you can fix it." Someone said. Sasuke turned towards the voice with a Kunai in his hand, ready to strike at the person.

His eyes widened at the person, "Naruto?" He looked away, "Go away. I don't want or need to speak with you." When he said that he felt guilt course through him, making him look down to the ground.

"Sasuke please." Another person jumped on the roof, Sakura.

"What do you two want? If you don't trust me why do you still need me?" He asked bitterly.

Here goes this one, "Sasuke, I challenge you to a fight."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, his eyebrows raised with curiosity, "Why do you want to fight?"

"Sasuke," Naruto began, "You're my best friend. Regardless of what Sakura-chan may have said, I will always trust you with my life. I have ALWAYS, even when we were searching for you all those years ago. Even now, we're all together again! Team Seven! I want us to stick together, we're family."

Sasuke looked away, "Family." He looked down at the part of the house his parents were in. Mother! What would make me happy! He recalled himself saying, "Family I think. I realize what would make me happy." He muttered to himself.

"Did you say something Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"I am sorry," He started, "For everything I have put you two through. Naruto, I am sorry for fighting with you all the time when we were kids. I am sorry for trying to kill you at the Valley of the End. I am sorry for evading you guys when you both got so close to me. Back then all that mattered to me was power to kill my brother, and look where that landed me – in a pit of misery and despair. It turns out my brother was good all along, and I killed him for something he did not do, and you guys…" He paused, "You two were the family I always desired, yet always ran away from. I am so sorry."

"I know you both don't trust me, who would?" He admitted, "I have done terrible things, and I have said horrible things to both of you. If you don't trust me, that's fine. Just please help me when we're on missions. I promise that I will always try to help you two before I help myself, I give you my word."

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Sasuke was shocked when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, "Sasuke, I am sorry for saying that to you." Sakura said, holding him, "I never should have doubted you. Even when we were chasing you, I knew in the back of my heart that you wouldn't hurt us."

"But, I did try to hurt you guys." Sasuke admitted, "Several times, and I was fully intent on killing you guys right before we came back in time before something just… clicked, in the back of my mind."

"That would be your conscious!" Naruto laughed, and patted his back, "There's no way you'd kill your family like that!"

Sasuke looked down, and for the first time he felt truly happy since he had come back, "Yeah. I suppose so."

"Don't worry Sasuke, ever since we came back in time I have trusted you." Naruto said, "And it is never going to change!"

"I do too, now." Sakura admitted, holding out her hand as well, "I'm sorry for being a pain in the ass to you in both timelines." She smiled slightly.

Sasuke looked up, and had a huge grin on his face. Probably the largest one since he had been born, "Both of you, you don't know how much this means to me." Sakura released him, and both Sakura and Naruto pulled him up to his feet. Sasuke grabbed both of them and pulled them into a group hug. "You two are my family." He said, holding them tight.

They stayed together like that for near ten minutes before Naruto said, "I'm getting soaked, let's get in before you two catch a cold."

"What about you?" Sakura asked breaking the tri hug.

"Don't worry, with 'him' in me I never get sick." Naruto said waving it off. "Come on Sasuke, Sakura-chan, let's go in."

Neither Sakura nor Sasuke had any objection to that.

(Hokage Tower)

Sarutobi smiled as he put away his crystal ball he viewed the trio in, "For once, I feel as though I can truly trust them."

Kakashi who had been watching as well nodded, "Yes. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke will be the ones to save us one day. Until then, I will do all in my power to assist them in getting stronger." Kakashi began to leave the room.

"You better Kakashi." Sarutobi said, as he began to write the report for the day.

---END---

Documented changes:

-Got rid of Sasuke's declaration of working alone in the beginning, and decided to make him a lot more sympathetic with a new monologue and new dialogue with Kaiza.

-A LOT of the dialogue has been rewritten as the squad recuperated at Tsunami's house, and on their way back to Konoha.

-A lot of dialogue has been altered everywhere when they get back to town, especially involving Sasuke, making him more sympathetic.

-Got rid of the terrible plot twist at the end. It was so ridiculously stupid that I did not even bother to read it because I knew it was such a big blunder in this story. It was completely removed, for very good reasons.

-Spelling and grammar fixed all around.

This chapter actually changed a lot. So much so that some of the things in future chapters will not make sense until I rewrite them. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was definitely the first one in which I had to spend over an hour revising and rewriting. Can't wait until I get to chapter 12! 16,000 words will be a blast to fix!