Chapter 12: A River Stained Again

"Sayuri!"

Sayuri sat in her windowsill and watched the sun rise. She did not wish to answer to her father at the moment. What an animal she was. She had been so ready to kill Kakashi yesterday. She had not changed; there was no hope for her.

"Sayuri come down here now,"

She heaved a sigh and started down the stairs. An order had been given and she could not ignore it.

"I heard about what happened yesterday form Hokage-sama," Raikou stated, "That would not have happened if you had come home last night and received orders from me that morning. You are still to continue training with the others. You will not kill or intend to kill any of them. Do I make myself clear?"

Sayuri nodded as she stood at the bottom of the stairs. She was scared and didn't want to go back. What would they think of her now? What was the point in her existence? They could not just have made her to have an elite ninja hanging around at beck and call. There must be more than that. But what?

As Sayuri closed the door behind her Raikou sat down in the living room quite content. This really did prove that she was still what she had been made to be. A cold-blooded killer. She would have no problem with the order given to her.

Though he did see regret in her eyes today. So she obviously had some feeling. The order, he hoped, would come soon.

Sayuri slowly approached the training area. Everyone but Kakashi was there. She didn't feel like facing them today though. So she stayed back a bit and decided to wait until Kakashi got there. Her teammates had noticed her presence and kept looking over at her. Were they scared of her? Had she lost the only people that cared? There had to be something she could do.

Sayuri heard something behind her. With lightning fast reflexes she withdrew a kunai from her pouch and tossed it to where she had heard the sound. She didn't hear anything for a moment.

"Maybe I shouldn't try to approach you from behind," she heard Kakashi call.

She flinched at the sound of his voice. What would she do? What would she say? She didn't feel like she could face him after what had happened yesterday.

Kakashi walked out of the forest and held the kunai Sayuri had thrown at him out to her. She took it and put it back in her pouch.

"I'd like to congratulate you and Sasuke on your performance yesterday," he said.

Sayuri's eyes widened in shock, "But I almost, I was ready to…" she let her voice trail off.

"That's a good thing a ninja must be ready to kill," Kakashi put bluntly.

"How could you still want me here?" Sayuri yelled angrily.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura all looked over to the disturbance.

"Knowing that I could hurt either one of you at anytime. Why would you want this monster on your team? I'm just a heartless, cold-blooded killer! I can't control myself!" Sayuri stood there breathing heavily.

"That's not true Sayuri," Kakashi started, "do you feel regret?"

Sayuri just looked at him. Then she nodded.

"Than working with us is already helping you. You feel bad for what you did yesterday. You probably want to leave so that you can protect us from you. We do not need protection from you Sayuri. It is you that needs protection,"

Sayuri shook her head, "I can take care of myself,"

"You do not need protection from others Sayuri, you need protection from yourself," Kakashi said, "You were raised to think that you did not have the right to feel. Though you still did, you felt only loneliness and regret. You deserve to feel, just not the badly. You deserve love as much as any of us,"

Sayuri just stood there. Tears welling up in her eyes.

"Why do you care about me so much?" she yelled in anger, "All I do is hurt you!"

"Because you are our friend," she heard someone say from behind her.

She spun around. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had approached. Sakura and Naruto were smiling at her; Sasuke just gave her a serious look.

"YOU DON'T DESERVE THIS!" she yelled again.

Sayuri started running but Sasuke grabbed her and spun her around. She went off balance and started falling forward towards Sasuke. He held out his arms and pulled her into a close embrace.

"We have much in common," Sasuke whispered in her ear, "We both have the weight of the past on our shoulders. We both know what it's like to be isolated and alone. We both have to bare an unwanted seal. Neither of us will stop because we are both avengers," Sasuke went quiet for a moment, "and we both have friends that care for us. You will not be forgotten Sayuri,"

Sayuri let the tears stream down her face now. She didn't understand. Why did they care so much? She felt Sasuke's hold around her loosen and he pulled away from her. She just stood there and stared at the ground, everyone looking at her.

Slowly she brought her hand to her pouch and pulled out another kunai. She pressed the blade down on her palm again. Blood flowed down her hand and she dropped the kunai on the ground.

"Am I…real?" she asked herself in a quiet whisper, staring at her hand.

Naruto walked over to her and picked the kunai off the ground. He cut open his own hand. He raised his hand to Sayuri and took a hold of it. The blood flowed down their arms as he held up their hands. He looked into her eyes.

"As real as we all are," he said.

Sayuri's flow of tears slowed, that's when she finally realized.

Love is unexplainable she thought.

Naruto let go of her hand. Sayuri started walking towards the stream that Sasuke had taken her to. Sakura had started to follow her but Kakashi put a hand on her to prevent her from doing so. They all just let her walk away.

When she arrived at the water bank she bent down beside it. Gently she laid her hand into the water and watched her blood flow down the stream. Was this love? As she watched her blood stain the pure water she swore to herself.

I will protect them with my life.

She felt an odd burning sensation on the back of her neck.