Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything that has to do with it.

Warnings: This chapter contains references to incest, coarse language, refernces to violence, this chapter is also OOC and the canon is really getting roasted. There are also quite a few errors in this. This chapter is significanlty shorter than the last one, but still is pretty long.

Pairings: ItaSasu, AsuKure, some NaruSaku, slight SasuNaru, some KakaIta, hints of GaiKaka, references to SasuSaku and SasuIno, a pinch of ShikaIno.

Sasuke awoke on his bed that was fully made, fully dressed. The horrible aura from last night and the argument that he and Itachi had was gone. He looked around to see any traces of it all being a dream but seeing the blood on the floor; he knew it was all real. His brother did go after the Hokage, but he came back to him.

"You're awake," Itachi breathed happily as he looked at Sasuke who was resting on the bed.

Sasuke looked at the figure entering the room as the door slid closed. "Itachi? Is that you?" he let out a low moan. "What time is it?"

Itachi moved to the side of his bed sitting on the mattress. "It's ten, don't worry I didn't let you sleep in that much. But after what happened last night, I'm just glad you're alright," he closed his eyes and forced a smile as he looked straight at him. "I was worried about you."

Sasuke looked at his brother's hand and arm noticing the bandages wrapped around them. It was real; this wasn't a fantasy that was made up. Itachi had to be in pain, his sharingan wasn't active, his eyes returning to the peaceful black color that he remembered so clearly. What really got him the most was the lost look deep within, the dark circles underneath; his brother had experienced another sleepless night.

"Itachi," Sasuke started as he took his brother's left hand holding it tightly. "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me," Itachi answered as he looked toward the door. "I'll be fine. What concerns me the most in your health, are you going to be alright? You were coughing in your sleep last night."

"I have a cold," Sasuke answered as he looked into his brother's eyes. "Why do you care so much? You never cared before…"

Itachi looked away. "Maybe I've changed."

"People like you don't change," Sasuke scoffed. "Once apathetic, always apathetic, you can't change your character. You can say all that you want, but you're still the same. You broke my heart; you can't take that back again. You use me, you abuse me, you make me worry, what do you expect me to do?"

Itachi sighed. "I'm going to take that as an 'I love you'," he smiled this time for real his true colors showing. "You're just upset about how it ended last night," he ran his hand up against the dark spots on Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke looked into his brother's eyes. There's something wrong with him. I've never seen him let this. What happened in that damn office? What did Konoha do to him? He's not the same as before, he's becoming a new person. I'm not sure I understand, he touched his brother's hand. "Itachi, what happened to you? Why are you being so nice?"

Itachi sighed again. "Suspicious?" he reached down as he pulled out a red apple. "What happened to me isn't important to you. What is important is what you can do to make all of the pain go away."

Sasuke breathed heavily as he winced. "Itachi," his voice was shaking. "What happened between you and Kakashi? In the hospital, you looked at him with so much hatred. What did he do to you?"

"Sasuke," he sighed looking down at the apple. "There's nothing that you need to know about that. It was four years ago, the memory is faint. I can tell you one thing, I will never forgive him."

The young boy looked at the apple. "Bullshit…"

Itachi smiled. "You think that you have the right to know what happened in my past. You should know what happened when I was young, you saw the nights where I would just sit staring out of the window."

"You said that you were thinking," Sasuke answered, holding Itachi's hand tighter. "Were you lying to me as you hugged me saying everything was going to be alright? All of this time, I thought that you chose to be that way, but yet, you were pushed too hard."

"Why are we talking about this?" Itachi asked as he pulled out a kunai. "This is depressing; you don't want to talk about me. We need to help you get better," he started to peel the apple that was in his hand. "I know that I've hurt you, Sasuke, but through it all you've only gotten stronger. I think it's time that I started to train you."

Sasuke's eyes lit up. "You're going to teach me your techniques."

"The ones I can, you'll never harness the power of the mangekyou sharingan with training alone. It's dangerous, the symptoms of the manifestation, they could kill you," the peel started falling to the ground. "There's a high chance that the person who's unlocking it might not survive the transition."

"You survived," Sasuke answered looking into his brother's sable eyes.

"I was strong enough to handle it," Itachi continued. "The thing that really hurts is having blood seep from every part of your body, mostly in the eyes. You felt that though. Doesn't it hurt?"

Sasuke looked at the distant look in Itachi's eyes; it had been there ever since they started talking about Kakashi. He never heard any words about Kakashi before the day that he met him at the academy. Itachi never mentioned anyone by that name. Judging by the look in Itachi's eyes, the jounin had hurt him deeply doing something that could never be forgiven. But what?

"I hope you like apples," Itachi smiled.

"Don't people usually feed sick people soup?" Sasuke asked raising an eyebrow.

"Soup?" Itachi asked. "Sasuke, if you're going to be my student you need to start eating right. You need foods that are doing to build up energy yet not make you gain excessive weight. Soup is just fat," he cut a piece of apple off handing it to the young ninja. "There you go…"

Sasuke looked confused at the piece of apple. "How do I know you're not trying to kill me?"

"Why would I kill you?" Itachi asked. "What's that going to do for me? If I wanted to kill you I would have done it four years ago."

Sasuke looked into his brother's eyes. "You're right; killing me isn't your style. I know what is though," he took a breath. "How do I know you didn't put an aphrodisiac into it you pervert?"

Itachi shook his head. "Sasuke…"

"You eat it," Sasuke urged. "I want to see what happens."

The older ninja shrugged as he brought the piece of apple to his lips taking it into his mouth. He chewed at it slowly acting as if it was a chore to eat looking over at Sasuke with calm eyes.

"You can chew it all you want," Sasuke answered. "I'm not going to eat the apples until I see what they do to you." he looked over at Itachi watching him chew more. "Are you counting to a special number or something? It's not that hard, you chew it a few times and then you swallow. You don't need to count."

Itachi swallowed the apple slowly. "And that's why you're going to choke one of these days."

Sasuke looked at his brother sitting up. "Well? Is it safe?" he continued to stare at him. "Are you going to die?"

"As soon as I put it in my mouth you should have known it was alright. If I poisoned the apple do you think that I would have done that?" he asked moving to cut off another piece. "Now you're going to eat a piece."

Sasuke watched as he cut off another piece. "You didn't sleep last night, did you, Itachi? You're not eating either, what happened to you? I worry about you sometimes, when I was young you said you made yourself the ideal older brother for me, you got something wrong. First, you didn't make that persona up because I can see it coming back now, and two I always wanted a brother who wouldn't make me worry. I thought you were going to die yesterday, when you came home bloody…"

Itachi sighed. "You don't have to worry."

"Don't have to worry my ass!" Sasuke continued. "This is the worst I've ever seen you do. You're getting your ass kicked by people I know you can take out with a blink of your eye and now look at you, you're sitting here starved and sleep deprived."

Itachi pushed a piece of apple through Sasuke's lips. "It's my body, Sasuke. If I want to destroy it, then let me. Don't get worked up over it, I'm going to be alright. I promise."

Sasuke chewed the apple as he looked up at his brother a smile on his face as he looked down at him. The sweet juices from the apple filled his mouth, the pressure from his brother's fingers on his lips growing stronger. He closed his eyes as he swallowed the contents in his mouth feeling the fingers leave.

"You don't hate apples do you?" Itachi asked with another forced smile.

Itachi, Sasuke looked into his brother's eyes. I don't want to see you in pain. The more you smile, the more I can see through you. You're going through more than you deserve. I love you, Itachi and the last thing that I was is to see you in pain. He touched Itachi's hand. "I don't want to see you like this…"

"S-Sasuke," Itachi breathed moving to kiss him on the lips placing the apple on the other side of the mattress holding onto him tighter moaning at the contact. "I'm fine…"

"No you aren't," Sasuke argued. "You can lie all you want, you're never going to be alright. I don't want to lose you in this. I need you more now than ever, you can't come back and then leave me. I told you that I can't take it."

Itachi's eyes filled with a trace of an emotion that made Sasuke gasp; through the dark irises he could see a small trace of guilt. It was the same caliber of Naruto's but it more subtle. Through his words of saying he felt no guilt; he had broken his own promise.

"Sasuke," Itachi breathed. "Don't say such things…"

"Why?" Sasuke asked. "Because they hurt you? Itachi, I know for a fact that you do feel sorry for what you did. I know you can say it and not mean it, but I think you mean it," he stroked Itachi's face. "You can't deny it anymore."

Itachi shook his head. "I don't feel guilt… I'm not that weak," he took the apple and hand and sat back up his eyes getting lost in the act of peeling. "The more apples you eat the sooner you'll get better."

Sasuke felt another piece of apple pass his lips as he looked at his brother's smile, it was transparent, the tears being seen right through it. The second that Kakashi's name was mentioned, Itachi's eyes broke, his whole being transforming into someone different. It provoked the question in Sasuke's mind: what did Kakashi do to his brother?

-----

Ino's cries filled the waiting room as Team 10 sat in a small circle. She rested up against Chouji, burying her face in his shoulder fisting the front of his shirt. The news had just come to her only a few moments ago when she had gotten the call. As soon as the doctors had told her what had happened, she broke down and sobbed.

"We should have been there," Ino cried as she hit her fist up against Chouji's chest. "Why did he have to go after him? Why?" her voice became shrill as she buried her face deeper. "Asuma… why?"

Hearing her cries, Shikamaru bowed his head trying to hold back the tears that were trying to pour down his cheeks. Asuma's words pierced through his heart as he remembered the moment. He handed him the pack of cigarettes in case the journey got to hard. Asuma had told him that he was going to go after him; he was just too stupid to stop it before it happened.

"You're going to make it; you're going to go on with Ino and Chouji. Even if I do get hurt, I want you to stay strong."

"Asuma!" Ino sobbed as Shikamaru closed his eyes trying to give in to the feelings of his heartache. Asuma promised him that he was going to come back to him. He believed him like an idiot, now he was in a hospital room barely alive.

"Itachi," Shikamaru cursed as he curled his hands into fists looking over at Chouji watching him stroke Ino's back. "Is she going to be alright, Chouji?"

Chouji nodded as he looked at Shikamaru. "She just feels as though we should have been there for him, and maybe we should, maybe we should have…" tears formed in his eyes. "If I wasn't so weak if I was able to fight for him, I would have."

"You're not weak," Shikamaru answered. "Don't ever say that," he looked at Ino sobbing and then at the guilty look in Chouji's eyes, their faces morphing into someone else. They were just like Naruto and Sakura when they first found out about their sensei. Would the same thing happen to them as Team 7? Would they break as much as Naruto did? Would they shut the door on everyone?

Shikamaru sighed. It wasn't my fault, whatever happens happens, I can't change that no matter how much I wish I could. Asuma told me that I have to stay strong; he wouldn't want me to break. The tears in his eyes never fell as he looked at his teammates who were crying holding each other. You were right about Itachi… you were right.

"Do you need anything, Ino?" Shikamaru asked. "Do you want me to call someone? You need anymore help?"

She nodded. "Yes… I do need someone else," he blue eyes were plagued with tears. "I want you to call Sakura for me. I want to talk to her about this; I need her to tell me how she dealt with the pain."

Shikamaru nodded as he stood up and walked out of the room, the second that he was out of their sight he let a tear fall. Asuma, why did you do this to me? I told you that you wouldn't be able to do it. I know you lost your dignity, but you're almost dead right now. Itachi was ruthless; there was no way that you were going to win. He moved to the phone thinking of whose fault this was. "Gai…"

It had to be Gai, he was the one who pushed him to it, the one who had depleted all of the dignity Asuma had left. The feud between the two of them ended tragically, neither of their plans were in action. Asuma wanted no one to get hurt, if the Hokage had listened in the first place, Asuma would have been spared. Gai's plan on the other hand was totally shot down the second that Itachi's sword pierced Asuma's skin. If the first plan never happened, the tears wouldn't fall so fiercely.

The phone was right next to him as he slipped some coins into the slot then dialing the number. "Pick up…"

-----

"I'm going to be fine," Naruto answered walking away from Sakura. "Damn, all you do it bug me. If I want to hurt myself then it's none of your business. It's my body, my life, if I want to destroy it then let me!" he rummaged through his pockets looking for the keys to his apartment. "You can go home now."

She looked at the ground. "I'm worried about you…"

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto asked. "I haven't seen him since he went off with Shikamaru, for all you know he could be dead. Itachi probably found him and finished the job and killed him. We were weak once again."

Sakura grabbed his wrist as she pulled him back. "Come on, Naruto. Just stay out a little longer," she looked in his eyes holding his wrist tighter. "I don't want you to do something reckless because of Sasuke. You said that you didn't want to hurt me anymore. If you go in there and you hurt yourself, it would kill me."

Naruto smiled faintly as he looked into her eyes. "Sakura… I promise… that if I hurt myself… I won't make you watch," he moved closer to her looking deeper into her green eyes. "I promise…" he kissed her lightly on the lips as he opened the door behind him. "Now I have to go in."

"Not alone," she answered as she recovered from the lip contact. "I'm not letting you go in there all by yourself."

He smiled. "Then come on in," he moved out of her way as she walked through the door. "Don't mind the mess; I haven't cleaned up in a while. I wasn't expecting anyone to come over."

She looked back at him. "It's not that bad," she moved to the kitchen looking around. "It looks cozy," she moved to the fridge opening it seeing it devoid of all contents. "Haven't done any shopping I see."

"No," he answered, walking toward his room to listen to his messages. "You can come in here if you want."

She walked toward the room looking at the trail of blood that led from his door to the bedroom staining the rug as if they were concentrated into teardrops. Whatever Sasuke had tried to do to him that night was enough to make the whole apartment a bloody mess.

"Naruto?" she asked looking at the blood stains. "What happened? Why is there blood everywhere?"

The boy looked up at her. "Sasuke had a headache," he looked over at her patting the bed. "You can sit down if you want. I'm not going to try anything." He moved over to allow her to come closer to him. She belongs to Sasuke now… but I know that he doesn't love her in that way. The way he's been acting lately, I think he's given up on us.

She sat next to him on the bed. "Why are you so upset?"

"Upset?" he asked.

Sakura rested her head up against his shoulder. "Don't play dumb, you know what I'm talking about. You've been acting like a real jerk lately. I called you every night since the first time you showed the signs and you never pick up."

"I don't think you should get involved," Naruto answered touching his abdomen. "There's something going on here, a fight for me. I know that's why Itachi's here, the fox," his hand curled into a fist over the cloth. "This damn fox."

Sakura stroked his back. "You'll be fine…"

"Easy for you to say," Naruto sighed. "Itachi never had interest in you."

"Our little secret."

Sakura remembered when she first came face to face with Itachi, the way that he acted around her. He wasn't the type of criminal to take out people who didn't attack first. She was able to have a pleasant conversation with him. There were times in their conversation that made her think that Itachi might have been more understanding than Sasuke. Itachi wasn't the monster that Sasuke made him out to be.

"I don't know what it's like, but Itachi might not want you," Sakura answered. "Maybe he wants…"

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked standing up. "Sasuke this, Sasuke that, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke! What does everyone see in him anyway?" he looked out the window. "Sasuke means something to Itachi, why else is he alive…?"

Sakura stood up too. "You have to stop thinking about Sasuke that way. Don't you think that he's in pain as well, or did you forget about what happened to him by the river," a tear fell from her eye. "Because we were reckless, we weren't there for him. His mind has gone through so much as he tried to make sense of the events."

Naruto scoffed. "For all you know, Sasuke enjoyed that. He could be playing us right now, Sakura."

She opened her mouth to speak as the phone rang. "Naruto… it's your phone."

"Let it ring," Naruto urged. "It's probably just Sasuke," the phone rang again. "That bastard always calls me."

Sakura sighed as the machine turned on. "You have to talk to him eventually; Sasuke isn't going to go away just because you want him to. You're going to have to face him!"

Naruto was silent as the message started. "Hey Naruto, this is Shikamaru, I was wondering if you knew where Sakura was, I have message for her. It's Ino, she's pretty upset. We're in a hospital, Naruto; our sensei was stabbed by Itachi Uchiha yesterday. If you could find Sakura and tell he that would be wonderful. Bye, and don't hurt yourself, having two crying women is troublesome."

Sakura stared at the answering machine as she fell to her knees. Ino was taking this hard; she knew how much her sensei meant to her. Asuma was the reason why she was trying so hard, he was like a second father to her. Now he was gone stabbed by the man that Sakura had healed. As she thought about Ino crying in the hospital waiting room tears fell down her cheeks.

"Ino," she breathed, burying her face in her hands. Is this how it felt to know that your best friend was in pain and there was nothing for you to do? The feeling of knowing that you should be there for someone, but you can't bring yourself to, this was the feeling that Sasuke and Naruto had for one another. She wasn't going to be like them, she wasn't going to turn her back on Ino.

"I'm going to the hospital," she looked over at Naruto watching his blue eyes well up in tears. "Are you alright?" she moved closer to him. "Naruto?"

He looked over at her as he tried to hold back the tears. "He's gone too far," he sniffled. "Itachi's gone too far now. I can't let all of this continue to happen because of me, Sakura. If I hand myself over…"

"No," Sakura answered. "Don't talk like that, you don't mean what you're saying. If you do that all that Sasuke is working so hard for would be a waste. Losing his virginity would be in vain."

"Why is he hurting Sasuke if he wants me?" Naruto asked scoffing.

Sakura could see what he was doing. "You're still feeling guilty about it?"

"How can I not," Naruto answered his tears falling to the ground. "I hear him scream every night. I replay that night every single day in my mind, if I walked him home that night and said that we shouldn't meet up with him… he'd be the same Sasuke. He wouldn't be forcing smiles while on the inside he hates himself. I know that he feels used, but he won't talk to me about his true feelings."

Sakura looked into his eyes deeper still. "Naruto, you can't beat yourself up."

"Yes I can," Naruto answered. "You never paid attention to me before this; you're a sick sadist, Sakura. You go for people who are in pain so you can pretend that you care. You don't care about me and you don't care about Sasuke. You only care about yourself."

"Naruto," she started. "What do you mean?"

"When I was happy I was annoying! Now that you can help me with my problems is the only reason why you come to me. You're obsessed with suicidal people so you can look like a savior in their eyes," he shook his head. "Tell me, now that Sasuke's smiling, when's the last time you talked to him?"

Sakura looked away. "Naruto, you told me once, that you didn't go back on your word, you said that you wouldn't let his loss be in vain. You made a promise to him that said that you wouldn't let him life a horrid life. You said you'd be there for him. While he's in the village in pain, you're here; you're avoiding him just like you did when he was in the hospital. It took you a week to muster up the confidence to save him. Is it going to take another week?"

Naruto closed his eyes; all of the words she said were true. They made promises to one another, not only did he make promises to Sasuke, but Sasuke made promises to him as well. Sasuke was living up to his promise, he wasn't dying on him.

"Don't die… promise me that you're going to come out of this all alive. If you think about dying before I do… if you even think about it, I'll… I'll hate you more than I already do you bastard."

He remembered the smirk on Sasuke's face as they made that promise; Naruto's presence was exactly what he needed that day. The way that he held his hand as he tried to suppress the tears, the way he confided in him, Naruto was going to let all of that go.

"I swear that I won't let anyone hurt you."

Naruto closed his eyes tighter as he thought about the tight hug after that, seeing the smile on Sasuke's lips afterward. He was turning his back on his best friend when he needed him the most. He was being selfish; he wasn't going to let Sasuke do this on his own. He didn't go back on his word; it was his way of ninja.

"I can take you to the hospital," Naruto answered looking at her. I can't keep running away from my problems. If I want to save Sasuke then I'm going to have to stand up to anything. If I can't handle this amount of emotion, how am I going to emotionally handle Itachi when he comes for me?

He walked to the door hearing her start to follow. "What made you change your mind, Naruto?"

Looking back at her a smile graced his lips. "Sasuke…"

"What about Sasuke?" she asked.

Naruto stayed silent for a second, remembering the way that Sasuke had been treating him these past few days. Sasuke cared now; he cared while Naruto turned his back on everyone and everything that he loved. Kakashi was right; Sasuke was never going to be the same again, but unlike the way that he thought the boy had opened his heart to things that he never felt and although the darkness was always going to be a part of him, he was starting to break free. He was so alive.

"He's alive…" Naruto answered as he opened the door to the outside the sun shining in his eyes, blinding him. I wanted to have faith in you, Sasuke, you didn't let me down. You really are perfect; maybe through all of this, life is trying to prove to me that you are better. He shielded his eyes from the light. You are better than me.

-----

Shikamaru looked over at Ino as he twiddled his thumbs. They had already spent hours on Asuma; they had to know whether he was going to live or not. Ino's cries only made his heart wrench more, when was Sakura going to arrive?

Come on, Naruto, tell me you called her, Shikamaru begged himself as he closed his eyes tightly. He wasn't going to stay strong for much longer. How was he supposed to when he didn't even know if Asuma was dead? Taking charge of the team would be like replacing him, something he could never do.

Asuma was going to be fine; he had to keep telling himself that. He had to stay as strong as Team 7 when they lost Kakashi. He couldn't break as easily as his mind wanted him to. The talks that he had with Sasuke told him one thing, strength lies deep within, an attribute that the Uchiha demonstrated well. Sasuke was stronger than he thought he was.

"Shikamaru?" Chouji asked, looking over at him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Shikamaru answered, glancing over at his best friend. "I'll be better when they tell me the news."

Ino looked over at him. "How can you be so calm about this, Shika? Our sensei is in there dying and all you can do is say that you're ready for the news of our sensei's death? Out of all the inconsiderate things I've ever heard you say or do, this is on the top of the list. This is low even for you."

Shikamaru looked over at her. "I can't get worked up over something like this. I have to stay strong for him, he told me that the last time that we talked. If anything were to happen to him, I was going to have to take over the team. I'm supposed to take charge of all of us until we can be put under someone else's control."

"Asuma told you to do that?" Ino asked looking straight at him. "Are you nuts? Do you think you can do it? Shikamaru, we aren't a team anymore, we aren't ninja. We're like Team 7, we're out of work and we're never going to progress. Itachi is halting the process of getting genin into higher ranks. First Kakashi, then Asuma, who next? Kurenai? Gai?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Itachi doesn't care enough about the village to halt the progression of ninja through the ranks. All he wants is to fulfill his purpose. I think his purpose has to do with the first move he made, he raped Sasuke. He wants him."

Footsteps approached them. "Ino!" they turned to see Sakura with Naruto by her side. "Ino, are you alright?"

Ino looked over to see her old best friend in the doorway. "You came?"

Sakura nodded. "I did."

Standing up and walking toward her she looked deep into Sakura's eyes trying to find the answers to all of her questions. She couldn't find them. There was a reason that drove Sakura to come here that Ino would never understand.

"Why?" Ino asked, her voice shaking. "Why, Sakura? After all of these years of hatred for one another, you still came to me."

Sakura closed her eyes. "Because… you were there for me when I needed you, and all of this time I never realized how much I was hurting you. Our rivalry made us lose our mind and we became worse off because of it."

"It's not a little pain; it's a deep searing pain that cuts like a knife right through the heart."

"Sakura…" Ino breathed. "I…"

Sakura fought the tears in her eyes. "You don't need to say anything," she moved to take Ino into a hug. "I forgive you… I'm sorry too."

The blond girl rested her head on Sakura's shoulder. "All of the quarrelling, the arguments, the stupid fights, you looked past all of those all of these years. I never knew that you could do that, there were times where I knew I could be a real pain in the ass."

"I'll say," Naruto muttered under his breath.

"But it's obvious who Sasuke chose," Ino answered. "I know who he wants now."

"As do I," Sakura agreed looking back at Naruto. He wants you, Naruto. Only you can save him now. The way that he looks at you these days, it tells me that he wants you more than he's ever wanted anything.

Naruto watched the two of them hug as he clutched tightly at his abdomen. All he could think of was Sasuke. He was all that was on his mind these days. The way that he sobbed as he held him the night where Naruto's life almost ended, the way that his lips moved up against his as he kissed him, all of it ran through his head. Sasuke was different then before, he was starting to open his eyes to see that his dream isn't so important. He had taken the time to make sure that Naruto was going to be alright during all of this.

Sasuke, he thought as he looked around remembering the way he felt when it was him Sasuke in a hospital room time working against him. He shed so many tears during that time period, vomited almost every night as he cried himself to sleep. He still cried himself to sleep almost every night.

"Are you alright?" Chouji asked looking over at Naruto.

Naruto nodded shakily as he walked toward the door. "I'll be right back. I need to be alone for a while."

"Naruto…" Sakura started still hugging Ino.

"Don't worry, Sakura," he smiled looking back at her. "I'm going to be alright. I'll come back… I promise."

"Wait," Sakura answered backing away from Ino running up to him. The second that she was right in front of him she placed a light kiss on his cheek for everyone to see. "Come back okay, I don't want to see you hurting yourself."

He smiled as he lightly touched his cheek. "I promise, Sakura." he walked away again stopping for a split second. "Thank you…"

She watched him walk away closing her eyes. "When I look at Naruto I know that I could never be with someone like that. He's just so free-spirited and full of life. I know that he's going to break, there's no stopping him now, and even though it pains me I know that he's not strong enough to take all of this pain. He carries the nine tailed fox in his body."

"Come back…" she whispered. Don't make a big deal out of this; he's probably just going to the bathroom. He'll be back. She walked back toward Ino with a smile on her face. He knows what will happen to Sasuke if he hurts himself. Sasuke won't be able to forgive himself.

Hoping for the best, she embraced her best friend again, it was good to have Ino back. She missed her after all of this time of being so far apart. Now she could finally feel the happiness that she always wanted. It was only the beginning for her.

It's good to have you back, she hugged Ino tighter. Everything was going to be alright.

-----

Kurenai was in the corner of Kakashi's hospital room, her eyes watering dramatically. "You're wrong," she whimpered looking up at Gai. "You're wrong about what happened."

Gai sighed as he took a step forward. "Kurenai," he started as he looked at her. "You've been at the hospital all day and you haven't heard? You didn't know what happened to Asuma?"

She shook her head. "You're lying about all of this. You're lying…"

Gai closed his eyes shaking his head. "He went down for this village; he halted the attack that Itachi had thrust upon all of us. In the process he was critically injured and needed attention as soon as possible," he took a breath. "And in the outcome, we're not allowed to go after Itachi unless we want to be banished from the village."

Kurenai buried her face in her hands as she continued to cry. How could this happen? Asuma had promised that he was going to come back in one piece and she believed him like an idiot. Now he was in a hospital room fighting for his life.

"Gai's right, I must be trying to find a way out because I couldn't save Kakashi. I let Itachi go; it's only fair that Gai takes over right. I don't want anyone to get hurt, so I'm not going to stand by him. Even if I am a traitor, I don't want to lose this village."

Her eyes opened as she looked up at him all of the anger that she could muster pulsing dangerously through her body. "You!" she stood up looking into Gai's eyes. "This is your fault," her voice was breaking as she started to cry. "You made him do it! You made him go into that damn office! If you had never said anything about him not being able to beat Itachi…"

"My fault?" Gai asked as he looked at her. "You think this is my fault? Why can't he do anything wrong? You and this village think he's so perfect don't you? Asuma can't do anything wrong? When he fucks up, everyone forgives him, but when I screw up, everyone's on my ass."

"What about Kakashi? He was the one who started all of this," Kurenai continued.

Gai's eyes filled with anger. "You leave Kakashi out of this, it wasn't his fault what happened to him, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time," he took a deep breath. "Why do you care so much about Asuma anyway? What did he ever do for you?"

"Just say it," Kurenai spat. "Tell me you hate him!"

Gai looked into her eyes. "Kurenai."

"Tell me!" Kurenai answered sobbing louder. "Through all of this you were the one who took his dignity; you were the one who was trying to make it all seem like Asuma's fault. The day when you got to the Hokage's office first, you laughed. You were so proud that you had shot down his plan."

"His plan went into action anyway," Gai scoffed.

Kurenai's red eyes narrowed as more tears fell. "Say you hate him. Just say it…"

Gai looked into her eyes. "No, because really Kurenai, I don't hate him. Sure, I was mad at him, I thought that he was taking the wrong route with many of our plans, but I never hated him. He had a solid plan, but after what happened to Kakashi…"

Kurenai looked over at Kakashi's body. "What would Kakashi have done? I wish… I wish that he was still here…"

Gai looked over at the EKG. "Why? Everything would have been the same. I always felt that we should go after Itachi, since the day that I heard that I heard what he did to Sasuke. I didn't think he should be pardoned."

Kurenai looked over at Gai. "You're an asshole, do you know that? You made Asuma wonder what he would feel like if it were Shikamaru. Well what if it was Lee, Gai? How would you react?"

"How would you react if it were Kiba?" Gai asked back.

"I would do what Asuma did; I would let the man do what he wants so he could just leave us all alone. He said he wasn't going to hurt anyone. Your stupid plan is what forced Asuma to go in there," she moved closer to Gai, curling her hands into fists. "No more bullshit, tell me how you really feel about all of this?"

Gai's voice was quiet. "You want to know how I feel? I feel that Itachi shouldn't be out there to abuse that kid? He raped him, Kurenai; he has been mauling that kid for years now, wrenching his heart. Sasuke wants to kill him for a reason, but with this new decree he can't even do that, he's going to be pissed at us."

"He should be happy," Kurenai answered. "Do you think it would make Sasuke feel better if someone else fought his battle?"

"He's never going to beat Itachi," Gai responded. "He's never going to be able to hold a candle to him now that Kakashi's gone. Itachi is going to beat Sasuke on every single level, the way that he's always been beating him."

As Kurenai tried to speak she looked over at Kakashi, her attention being brought to a rustling sound. As she looked harder she saw the source. Through all of the conversation with Gai she had not noticed that Kakashi's right index finger was moving. That was impossible; the doctors said that he was so deep in a coma that he wasn't even going to be able to process brain waves.

"Gai," Kurenai stated as she moved to Kakashi's side hearing him breathe heavier. "Gai! It's Kakashi, he's…"

Gai's eyes moved to look over at his fallen rival. "Kakashi?" he looked at the moving finger. "Oh my God, he's waking up, he's finally starting to break the hold that Itachi had on him."

"That's impossible, the psychological damage should have been too great for him, he should have suffered a complete mental collapse," Kurenai continued. "Tsukuyomi is the most powerful genjutsu that I've ever heard of."

"Kakashi's different than most of the mangekyou sharingan's opponents," Gai smiled. "That's why he's the best around. He's going to wake up Kurenai, maybe we aren't screwed after all." He stood up. "I'll get a doctor."

Kurenai stayed by his side as she watched Gai leave her alone. Kakashi was starting to come to, his whole hand moving now. It wasn't over yet, there was no way that Itachi could have taken into account that Kakashi was going to come out of his coma in less than a month.

"Come on, Kakashi," she stated. "You can do it, just a little more," she could hear his breathing become more stable, more life like as he uttered one word almost silently.

"Sasuke…" his hand moved from his side a few inches to the right. He was coming out slowly but surely, it would only be a little while now.

"Kakashi," Kurenai stated as she grasped his hand. "Only you can fix the mess that Gai made. Restore Asuma's dignity… I'm counting on you…"

-----

Naruto started walking back the waiting room, taking his own sweet time. The sooner he got there the sooner Sakura would pay attention to him again. It had been more than a month since the day when Sasuke lost everything. The days had passed by slowly making it seem like an eternity since the day at the ramen shop where they were all still a team. Now they were nothing but a shadow of what they used to be, it was all a fading memory.

The way that Sasuke was that night before it happened would always be imprinted in Naruto's mind. That was the last time that he saw Sasuke still pure, the last time that he saw him while he was still on the quest for power. What was his quest now but a tattered plan that his heart could never fathom. He was no longer the Sasuke that he had hated and become best friends with. He was a different person.

As he continued walking, he saw Gai walking down the hall. "Naruto!"

Naruto turned around. "Gai-sensei? What are you doing here?"

"I have to tell you something," Gai started. "Your sensei, Kakashi, he's going to be alright. He's waking up as we speak; he's coming out of the coma."

"What?" the young ninja asked. "Already? But he's only been in a coma for twenty-three days. I thought that he would be out longer than that," he looked into Gai's eyes. "We're getting our sensei back?"

Gai sighed. "Hold on there, kid. There's no telling how he's going to be. I don't know much about Itachi's technique, but I know a few things about it. There's a chance that he could never be the same again. Genjutsu's a hard thing to define. But assemble the full Team 7; we don't know which one of you kids he wants to talk to first. Are you all here?"

Naruto closed his eyes. "Sakura's with Team 10 and I haven't seen Sasuke in a while, but I could give him a call. I'm sure that he's going to be relieved that Kakashi-sensei's alive. He was so worried about him for the past few days."

Gai nodded. "You go ahead and call him."

As the jounin walked away Naruto looked at the payphones to his side. They all could finally be a team again, they were all back together. The guilt that Naruto knew that Sasuke carried was going to be all over as he heard the news. Kakashi was alive.

He moved to the phone slipping a few coins in as he dialed Sasuke's number, this was important. They were all going to be together again, they could put all of the sorrow behind them. It seemed like it was going to be so easy. Easy for him and Sakura maybe, Sasuke was never going to be the same, but he could always improve.

The phone rang as Naruto twirled the cord around his fingers patiently waiting. Come on, you bastard…

"Hello?" he heard a voice ask on the other side, it was Sasuke. His voice seemed to be thick with fatigue, almost as if he was out of breath.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked. "Is that you? Are you alright?"

He heard a cough. "Naruto? I'm fine, what is it?"

Naruto took a deep breath. "It's happening."

"What's happening?" Sasuke voice was rising. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"No," Naruto answered clutching the cord tighter. "I'm fine. It's Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, he's waking up. After twenty-three days he's waking up from his coma," he heard a deep breath on the other line. "What's wrong?"

"You mean Kakashi's waking up?" his voice was tight. "He's alive?"

"Itachi must have gone easy on him," Naruto answered with a laugh. "Otherwise I think that Kakashi-sensei would have been done for sure. I know that it's been hard on you, not having our sensei around."

Sasuke let out a low breath. "I'll be there, Naruto…"

The phone hung up as Naruto looked at it. There was something different about Sasuke right now than ever before. All of the hate that Sasuke had been holding back for the past few days was back to haunt him, but not toward Itachi, but Kakashi.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," he whispered as he hung up the phone. "He sounds pissed…"

-----

Sasuke looked at the phone that he had just hung up his eyes not breaking from the objective. Kakashi was waking up, the same man that had hurt his brother so deeply. All of this time, the man that he respected as a sensei was the person who had destroyed everything that his brother was. Itachi was never that distant.

"Sasuke, there's nothing that you need to know about that. It was four years ago, the memory is faint. I can tell you one thing, I will never forgive him."

"Sasuke?" he heard a voice ask from behind him. "What's going on?"

He looked back to see his brother sitting on the floor changing the bandages that were on his left hand. He hadn't gotten to see what was underneath, now that he had all he could see were the bruises and the lacerations. It wasn't broken and Itachi could still use it, wounds never fazed him as much as they fazed most people. His ribs were still not a problem even though there were times where his breath caught in his throat almost suffocating him.

"Kakashi's awake," Sasuke answered.

Itachi looked up at his brother. "Congratulations, you have your sensei back."

The younger brother looked at the teenager on the ground watching him wrap the bandages wrap around his hands. "Itachi, I want to know why he woke up. That genjutsu is lethal."

"I got tired in the middle of the attack," Itachi answered. "I screwed up. Besides he has a sharingan, he was holding it off. The mental collapse still happened, but it wasn't enough to keep him down forever."

"Itachi," Sasuke started.

"But," Itachi started as he continued to wrap the bandage, "there's a chance that he might not wake up at all. He looks like he's moving because his body is starting to respond to the pain. There might be a way that I got him stuck in a moment of intense violence. Kakashi's a tortured man."

Sasuke walked over to his brother's side looking at his hand. "Do you need help before I go?"

Itachi looked up at him. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked taking the bandages from Itachi continuing to wrap the wound. "You're going to be alright," he laughed as he looked into his brother's eyes. "All of these years my dream was to destroy you, yet look at you, you've been beaten by every jounin that you face."

"Just because they spill blood doesn't mean that they won. Look at the results, who's still breathing without a machine?" Itachi asked.

"Barely," Sasuke continued. "I hit you pretty damn hard that night. I could have killed you if I applied a little more force," he looked up into his brother's eyes as he stopped wrapping. "I held back too."

Itachi moved his right hand to stroke Sasuke's face. "You're different than when you were a child. You've improved so much, working for a goal. I never understood what it was about goals that made people work so hard. It worked though, look at you, you're practically a prodigy."

"I'm weak," Sasuke answered.

"No," Itachi breathed kissing Sasuke's lips lightly. "All of those words I said, I'm taking those all back. I'm not going to lose you, not after I came this far to get you. You're going to continue to grow no matter how many people I have to hurt to encourage you. I want you to know everyone was wrong about you, you can be like me. But first you have to go see that man."

"But Itachi?" Sasuke asked as he let go of the bandaged hand. "What did he…?"

"I told you, you don't need to know what happened," Itachi answered with a small smile. "Just go to him and see how my work paid off. I also want to think of something else. Sasuke… this morning I talked about training you…" he took a breath, "even though Kakashi's awake, I want you answer. You pledged your allegiance; you've helped me, now I want to help you so I can hold my end of the bargain."

Sasuke stood up. "Don't bore me with the details, Itachi. I'll have an answer when I feel like it. Right now, there's nothing more that I want other than answers to questions that I've had all along," he walked toward the door. If I can't get the answers out of Itachi, I'll get them out of Kakashi.

Itachi looked over his shoulder. "Sasuke, don't be reckless…"

Sasuke glanced back at him looking at the bandages on his face, arm, and hand. "I won't be reckless," he continued walking. After what they did to you, one reckless move could get both of us hurt. You always talk about the spilling of innocent blood; how it's bad, but if you spill your blood is that justification?

He continued walking watching as Itachi started to undo the bandages on his upper arm exposing the huge gash from a trench knife, the outside of the wound discolored as his body tried to scab over. He recieved wounds on his quest that Sasuke couldn't even look at without vomiting with guilt. It was all because of what happened in the hospital room with Kakashi, that's why he was hated.

"I love you," Sasuke whispered as he closed the door on his brother, looking up into the sky watching clouds starting to form over the sun. It looked like rain was going to come. The weather had been dreary lately to match the feelings that Sasuke had felt in his heart. All of the love that he had for his brother only brought undying hate for the man he once called his sensei: Kakashi Hatake.

I want answers, Kakashi!

Author's Note: This chapter was supposed to be combined with the next chapter, but it just got to the point where it was going to be too long. I would like to take this time to thank everyone who has gotten this far into the story, it means a lot to me. I also know that this chapter was kind of boring compared to the last one, and the guy in the robe will back soon. You all can still guess who it is. So what did you think? Good? Bad? Think that this story needs more action? honesty is always good.