Chapter Two: The Two Halves of Sasuke

As Sasuke reached Takeshi, the older teen present grabbed Sasuke's kunai and twisted his arm around in one motion. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. How? So quickly… Ai quickly took note of Kakashi's growing suspicion and prepared to separate the two. "Takeshi-kun!" She yelled.

Takeshi was not done with his opponent. "You say you're strong, but you can't even land a punch on me. Do you call this power? If you want real power you have to be prepared to give everything up. The way you are right now can't achieve anything, honestly, you're pathetic. You have a goal don't you? If you aren't prepared to go all the way for your dream, there's no point in anything."

Ai watched in rapidly growing horror. Takeshi was not teaching his younger self anything, he was speeding up the process that would ultimately lead to…

"TAKESHI!" The teen still paid no attention to his teammate, who growled out in frustration. She should have never begun to trust the bastard, all he wanted... All he lived for was his stupid dream Nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing. The old man had been stupid to believe that he could ever try and think of saving Naruto.

Tears were starting to gather in Ai's eyes. How could she have been so stupid? All the anger she had once held for the avenger was back, she aimed a furious punch at him and his younger self. They both dodged, and the stone behind them was suddenly pulverized. It hadn't even been turned into smaller pieces of stone, it… disappeared into dust.

Everyone except Takeshi gaped openly.

"Takeshi-kun, we leave. NOW." Ai coldly ordered as she started to drag the teen away from their past selves. Takeshi took note of her gathering tears and scoffed.

"Crying again?"

Ai froze.

"You…" she never finished her sentence and promptly left him where he stood.

-(x)-

Sasuke almost sighed in annoyance as he watched his teammate, Sakura, leave. So he had asked her if she was crying, so what? It wasn't as if he wasn't allowed to ask her anything. Casting one last glance back at his younger self, Sasuke walked calmly forward, trying to ignore the tension between him and the white-haired kunoichi.

What was she so mad about anyways? Tch. Women.

He noticed that Sakura had picked up her pace. She suddenly whipped around to face him. "Don't follow me around Uchiha." To say he was surprised would've been an understatement. His teammate wasn't crying at all, she was glaring with a ferocity he didn't know could ever exist.

"What are you so angry about?"

Now that they were out of earshot, Sakura felt like she could finally vent out her frustrations to the avenger.

"What am I angry about? You fool. What the hell were you doing back there? You really are the most selfish person alive Sasuke. The need for power, you're… teaching it to him. What are you trying to do? Kill Naruto faster?" She shook her head. "I'd been a naive child to trust you Sasuke, after all these years… you are just like your brother, Itachi. We are not working together anymore, I'll save Naruto. Just make sure you don't get in my way."

"Don't ever compare me to him."

Sakura chuckled coldly. "Tell me, in what way are you not like your brother?"

"Sakura, he killed my whole family… murdered them on the spot…" How dare she compare him to Itachi?

"You killed Naruto, Sasuke. You butchered thousands and thousands on your quest for revenge. A quest for power, that's all your life has been. That's all his life has been too. So tell me, Sasuke, how are you not like him?"

Sasuke made no comment as his ex-teammate smirked. She stalked off with some final words of warning, "Don't get in my way, Uchiha. We are definitely not working together."

-(x)-

Sitting on his pedestal again, the old man made a noise half-way between a snort and a growl. "Those damn kids. They need to work together, don't they understand that? I don't have enough energy to get someone else to do the job…"

He frowned as he stared at the mirror which showed him the real world. Finally, he sighed; his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"What can I do? They have to fix it themselves…"

He turned his beady yellow eyes back to watching his two rats.

"There has to be something I can do… Dammit…"

-(x)-

Sasuke (older) wandered meaninglessly in the streets. Sakura, no doubt, had gone off back to the apartment or somewhere to train. He did not relish the thought of seeing her again. When the old man had first told them of their little 'mission', Sasuke hadn't been happy, so to say. It wasn't that he had been annoyed to have to do such a task, but it was more that he was stunned and quite disbelieving.

After seeing Konoha again, he was convinced that it was not a genjutsu of any sort. When he had first arrived, he had opened his eyes and activated the sharingan, (careful not o disturb Sakura, who was resting on him) trying to perceive if it was a strong type of genjutsu.

Now that they had been there a full week, Sasuke had started to believe more and more that it was not an illusion. If it was, it was definitely strong, and not many people in the world could hold such a strong illusion over him for such a period of time. So, after a couple of days, the Uchiha had started to brighten up.

Finally, he would be able to defeat his murderous traitor of a brother; the best thing was that he knew exactly when Itachi would strike. That would give him the perfect chance to find and kill his brother. Afterwards, he would be able to enjoy his life. Even if it was only for a couple of months, the Uchiha enjoyed the thought of spending time with Naruto and Sakura like they had once been as a team.

Well, more so Naruto than Sakura.

Of course there was the issue of his younger self, but that would be figured out in due time. The thing currently pressing on his mind was his white-haired ex-teammate. It would be best if he was on her good side, for one, she was the only one who knew how to deal with other people, unlike himself, who would rather chop off heads than make pleasant conversation.

Besides, if he didn't make it up to her soon, the mission would probably be shot to hell.

He hated to admit it, but he needed his teammate.

They worked together well, (even though he considered her somewhat weaker than himself) and she wasn't too annoying to be around. Plus, how would they be team seven (his team 7) if they didn't have their annoying female teammate?

That shouldn't have even mattered to him, but it did. (Even though it was only very slightly)

Sasuke sighed, now deep in thought.

What had he done to make her so angry? He reviewed the day's events in his head. There was the comment about crying, but it was merely a question and shouldn't have caused such a rise in Sakura. Perhaps it had been the whole 'attacking his younger self' thing. There was pretty much nothing he could do about that, after all, he still had a goal.

But…

The old man had told him to forget about Itachi and focus on his charge. Was he being to selfish?

Sasuke continued to walk down the streets, glancing at the ground angrily.

He couldn't give up Itachi…

It had been his dream for all those years to kill him. To feel his brother's blood on his hands was what he had lived for.

Sasuke sighed and stared upwards. The sun was shining brightly, and he was reminded once again of how the old man had given him a mission to save his best friend. That was what he was supposed to be focusing on… not Itachi.

Not killing his brother…

The Uchiha glared at the sky. This time, he would have to give up Itachi. For Naruto's sake. For Sakura's sake… for Team 7's sake.

Resolved, Sasuke picked up his pace.

That DID not mean he was going to let his younger self wallow in his own stupidity for several years. He was going to set his younger self's head on straight, even if it had to be by force. Then he would save Naruto.

Itachi would come later.

-(x)-

"Umm… Sasuke-kun… do you want to go on a d-date some time…?"

"Go away Sakura, I have to train." Younger Sasuke glared at his pink-haired teammate and took out another kunai. The fight with Takeshi earlier had left him in a bad mood. He hadn't realized how weak he was… if he couldn't beat that stupid prick Takeshi, he would never be able to kill his brother. From behind him, Sakura fiddled with her fingers. The dark-haired avenger sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair.

Sakura could be so goddammed annoying sometimes.

"Go. Away. Sakura."

She sighed and turned to leave. "Bye Sasuke-kun."

His anger kept the smidgen of guilt at bay as Sasuke continued to train.

"It serves her right for being so annoying…" Why did she have to fawn over him so much anyways?

Unknown to him, Sakura had heard her teammate's mutter and tears started to pool in her eyes. Every time she asked, he would turn her down with a cold glare. They were teammates now, but nothing had changed. What was she doing wrong? All she ever wanted was for him to notice her, but to him, she was nothing more than a nuisance…

Sakura stifled a sob. What was she doing crying?

It was pathetic to cry like a baby, and she didn't want Sasuke to hear her. The pink-haired girl started to run away from the training grounds and only stopped when she passed by a bench.

It was the bench that she had been sitting on that day Sasuke had actually been nice to her. It was the only time he had ever been nice to her. What was she doing wrong? Was she not pretty enough? Sakura knew she wasn't the prettiest kunoichi around, but…

Sighing dejectedly, she sat down.

In the distance, she could hear footsteps. Sakura lifted her head.

"Ai-san…?"

It was Ai. Sakura frowned and looked enviously at the older kunoichi. She was beautiful AND strong. Someone who Sasuke probably would want…

Seeing her, Ai hurried over. The dark look she was sporting before disappeared.

"Hey! You're Sakura-chan, right? Are you… crying?"

Sakura shook her head quickly and tried to hide her tears. She was such a disgrace. She was crying in front of a stranger!

Ai only smiled kindly.

"What happened?"

"Um…" What could she say? There was something about Ai that… It was almost as if Ai was an older sister to her already. "S-Sasuke-kun turned me down… again."

The smile on Ai's lips disappeared. "Why do you care about him? You shouldn't let what a guy does get you down, especially someone like that Sasuke guy."

"B-But… all I want is for him to like me…"

Strangely, the older kunoichi's face darkened in anger. "So that's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"So that's it? That's your big goal in life? To make some guy fall in love with you?" Ai paused and glared furiously at the pink-haired girl. "You are a kunoichi for God's sakes! How can you devote your whole goddammed life to some stupid fucking guy?" Her voice rose and quivered in anger.

Sakura backed away unconsciously, more tears were starting to fall. She knew what Ai was saying was true, but it hurt… She had always known that she wasn't a very good kunoichi, especially when it came to physical tasks, so why did Ai's words hurt her so much?

"Don't be so worthless! You're going to be a disgrace to your team if you continue to fantasize about a guy who will never look you way. Stop being a stupid little girl and get your head out of the clouds. Focus on what you have in front of you. Focus on your real friends. Naruto-kun seems like a really nice person too. All you do is make fun of him and treat him with disrespect. How can you call yourself a teammate?

"Do you know anything about your fellow 'teammates'? Do you know why they are so serious about being shinobi? Because they have dreams worth fighting for! What's your dream? To settle down and act like a stupid fucking housewife for the rest of your life? That's fine. But if you want to stop being dead weight to your teammates, you've gotta start thinking more.

"Start training. Start using your abilities. Stop dreaming about your beloved Sasuke-kun," There was so much venom that Sakura was temporarily surprised. The pink-haired girl was sobbing loudly now, the tears wouldn't stop coming. It hurt, it hurt so much to be called worthless… even though, that was what she was.

Suddenly, Ai's anger dissipated completely and she smiled warmly at Sakura.

"So … please… listen to my proposition. Let me train you."

Sakura quickly wiped away the tears, surprised at the gentleness and care in Ai's voice. Where was the anger and venom? Sakura smiled herself. Things were starting to shift for her. Ai's speech, for some reason, had touched her in a way nothing ever had.

Her perspective started to change. She really had been a stupid girl before.

Fawning over her teammate Sasuke when he never even cared. Inner Sakura roared. We'll show him we're too good for him. Shannaro! Sakura's smile got wider. Anger bubbled up inside her and it was all directed at… Sasuke. Strange, Sakura had never been mad at the avenger before.

Yes, she thought, I have a job. I have a job a kunoichi to protect my village, don't I?

Sakura made a vow. Even if her teammates viewed her as trash, she would never be weak. She would show them that she wasn't the fangirl she had been. She had to prove to Ino, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke... the village that she wasn't what they thought she was. A new feeling came over her. Determination. Determination to beat her teammates and to show them... to be proud of who she was and what she could acomplsih.

Sakura started to bloom.

The pink-haired kunoichi wondered why all her dreams had suddenly changed. Was it only because of Ai's words? Or was it Sasuke-kun too? It didn't matter. After another few moments of silence, Sakura finally spoke. "Okay, please, train me, Ai-sensei."

Ai grinned. "I promise that I won't go easy on you."

"I know, but I promised to myself that I wouldn't be anything you just said. I don't want to be worthless."

"Yeah."

Did you enjoy the chapter? I always wanted Sakura to grow up in the beginning. Now, in my story, she has. I also decided to put up my picture, I'll put a link on my profile when I can and I'll notify you all.

Thanks for reading, and as always…

REVIEW.

Questions? Comments? All welcome.