Here it is. The next chapter. Now I know Sasuke is a little out of character but he had to be for this one. Sorry to those of you that don't like that there wasn't anything I could do to change it. Believe me I tried.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Ch. 11: Team 7
The two teams met in a field. Naruto and Sasuke were standing in front of them. The tension in the air was so thick that everyone could feel it. Neither team was sure about trusting the other. It didn't help that they only had two things in common. One was their desire to catch the members of the Akatsuki. The other was their friendship with the pink haired medical nin that was currently looking between her two childhood friends with concern.
Sakura couldn't really blame Naruto for being wary. Sasuke had almost killed him once after all. But she had hoped that they wouldn't be this bad between the two. She glanced over at Ino for help. Ino felt sorry for her friend and came to her rescue.
"Hey guys come one. Relax already. You're stressing Sakura."
Ino was amazed at the instant affect the comment alone had on Sasuke. He immediately relaxed and she could have sworn that she saw something close to shame in his eyes. Then he looked over at the medic and saw that she was indeed stressed. Again he surprised Ino by taking a step back from Naruto.
"We're not here to fight. I just want to catch Itachi," he said.
"Is that all you care about, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto snapped.
Ino watched Sasuke's eyes dart to Sakura then back to his old friend, "I wish it was."
Naruto blinked in surprise. Kakashi took the moment to interrupt.
"Ino's right. This isn't the time for fighting. We need to set up camp right now and come up with a plan to find the Akatsuki not fight with each other."
"Alright," Naruto agreed.
The two teams set up camp right there in the clearing. There seemed to be an invisible line down the middle of the camp. On one side was Team Snake and on the other Rookie Nine and Kakashi. Sakura set up her makeshift bed by Sasuke's on the team snake side. She set up a fire right on the middle of the line and cooked everyone dinner. Both teams sat around the fire. After a few tense sentences they all began to relax. Sakura was happy that her old friends were giving her new friends a chance.
Just then she noticed that Sasuke wasn't with the rest of them around the fire. She fixed him a plate and began to look for him. When she couldn't find him she knelt next to Karin.
"Hey, Karin, have you seen Sasuke-kun? I can't find him anywhere."
Karin glanced around and then pointed off into the forest, "He's not very far."
"Thanks."
She headed off in the direction that Karin had pointed in. The medic found Sasuke sitting on a rock staring at the stars. He looked so alone that it tore at her heart. The girl sat beside him. He glanced at her then back at the sky.
"I brought you some food, Sasuke-kun."
He didn't reply.
Sakura looked at him carefully, "What's wrong?"
Sasuke mentally sighed but he didn't make a single sound out loud.
"Come on, Sasuke-kun. Talk to me. I promise I won't tell anyone you did. No one will ever know that the big bad Sasuke Uchiha actually has problems."
For a split second he grinned but then it was gone. He turned to look at her. She was looking at him with those emerald green eyes filled with concern. Again he mentally sighed. Damn this girl had a strange affect on him. Every time she asked for something he wanted to give it to her. He didn't even understand why. He knew he cared for her. She was his friend but why was it so strong? Why couldn't he refuse to give her anything if he could give it to her? Sasuke made his mind go back to her question knowing he would have to answer it.
"They hate me."
Sakura blinked. She really hadn't expected him to tell her.
"Who?"
He nodded back towards the camp. Then she understood. He was talking about Konoha. She looked up at the stars as she considered her response. What could she say to that? Some of them certainly did hate him. Others were wary of him. Then again she didn't think Sasuke cared about the majorities opinion. He only cared about two of them...Naruto and Kakashi.
"Can you blame Naruto for feeling the way he does? You nearly killed him once," she commented softly.
He sighed, "No I can't blame him. I can't blame any of them. I betrayed them all for power."
"They'll give you another chance if you ask them too, Sasuke-kun."
"That's the problem. I'm not sorry I left. Not one bit."
She looked at him, "You're not sorry for any of it?"
"I'm sorry I hurt Naruto and disappointed Kakashi-sensei but I'm not sorry that I left to join Orochimaru. Not if it helps me avenge my clan."
Her green eyes didn't leave his face. She seemed to be looking for something in his expression. He hoped she didn't start crying or get mad. He told her nothing but the truth. Sasuke didn't regret his choice to leave Konoha. He just regretted that the action had hurt the people who mattered to him.
After a moment she asked, "Sasuke-kun, have you ever thought about what you would do after you beat Itachi?"
"Yes."
"What will you do?"
He turned his onyx eyes to her. She blinked. There was something in them that she couldn't identify. Some part of her knew that it was very important and she racked her brains trying to figure out what it was.
"Do you remember the day we met Kakashi?" he asked her.
"Yes. He asked us about our goals."
"Do you remember mine?"
"Yes. You wanted to kill a certain person, which I assume is Itachi, and to revive your clan."
"After I finish one goal I'll spend the rest of my life on the other."
"Oh. You'll have to get married, ya know."
He nodded.
"Do you have a girl in mind?"
Now Sasuke smirked and he didn't look away from her when he answered, "Yes. I do."
For some reason she found herself blushing. She didn't know why. It wasn't like he had said it was her or anything. Sakura blamed it on the look. There was something about it that made her want to fidget and blush. She stood up.
"I'll take your plate back to camp. I'll be back in a little bit."
"No. Spend time with your friends. I know you've missed them."
She tilted her head, "I'll get to see them a lot during this mission but you don't talk to me like this often. I'm going to take advantage of your talkative mood and talk to you. I'll be back in a little while."
She walked off in the direction of the camp. Sasuke watched her leave. She was right. He was in an odd mood. He normally didn't talk like this to anyone. He blamed it on the feelings he couldn't understand. Sasuke wanted to talk to her and that surprised him. This was the first time he ever felt like sharing his emotions with anyone. He continued looking at the stars and debated on closing up again but decided against it. He wanted to talk to her so why not talk to her. She wouldn't tell anyone anything he said to her and she wanted to know. Besides, she might get upset if he suddenly stopped talking and he didn't want that. Damn, he was turning into a big softy were she was concerned. What was even more odd was that he couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't mind caring about her anymore.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone walking behind him. He knew it wasn't Sakura because the rhythm of their walk was wrong for her. He turned to see who it was and didn't understand why he was surprised to see Naruto walking up to him. Sasuke should have expected his old friend to confront him at some point. He just hoped it wouldn't be painful.
The fox jinchuriki moved to face Sasuke who was still sitting on the large rock in the middle of the clearing. Neither of them said a word. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. The two that were once best friends were now deciding if they were enemies or not. It didn't surprise either of them when Naruto was the first one to speak.
"You betrayed us."
Sasuke didn't bother responding. Nothing he had to say would make it any better since he wasn't sorry. Naruto would just have to either understand or hate him. The Uchiha ignored the part of him that hoped his friend would understand. It was better not to get his hopes up. No one could forgive him for what he had done especially since he wasn't sorry. Again that annoying voice in his head reminded him that Sakura had.
"Why, Sasuke-teme? What was so damn important that you had to leave the village and nearly kill me in the process?" Naruto demanded.
Sasuke was silent for a moment. Naruto began to wonder if he was even going to answer. Suddenly Sasuke said, "You met him. My brother."
Naruto nodded.
"I have to kill him. He killed everyone that mattered to me and them made me watch it again with that damn eye of his. I have to avenge my clan, Naruto, at any cost."
"That's stupid," Naruto said.
"You don't understand. You couldn't understand what it felt like that day. At that time Itachi was my hero. He seemed to be the only person that cared about me at all. Then he betrayed me in worst possible way. Tell me, Naruto, what would you have done if say Kakashi did that to you? Would you react any differently than I have to Itachi?"
Naruto couldn't respond. What would he do if someone he had not only trusted but admired had killed everyone he cared about? He didn't think he would just let that person get away with it. Itachi was considered and S ranked ninja. It would take someone really powerful to kill him. Sasuke would have to train a lot and with people stronger than he was in order to accomplish his goal.
Sasuke watched Naruto think what he had said through with a mental smirk. There had been a time when Naruto wouldn't have thought about it at all. He would have just reacted. Apparently Sakura wasn't the only one that had changed. Naruto had done some growing up as well. Sasuke felt a twinge of what could have been regret and guilt but he ignored it.
Naruto's blue eyes focused on Sasuke, "I think I can begin to understand why you did what you did so I'll forgive you, Sasuke-teme, but only on one condition."
"And what would that be, baka?"
"You have to return to Konoha with us when this is over."
Sasuke studied Naruto, "You want me to turn myself in?"
"You won't be under arrest. The worst that will happen is that you'll be under probation but that's it. I just want my best friend back. I miss having you around to fight with and test myself against. Hell I even missed hearing you call me baka."
Sasuke had always been amazed that Naruto could so easily show his feelings. The boy never bothered to hide it. He just told everyone exactly what he thought and they could like it or not. It never mattered to him either way. It was a trait that Sasuke had both hated and envied while they were on the same team. Now three years later Sasuke would admit privately that he had missed Naruto's carefree attitude and his large grins.
"Fine. When I've avenged my clan I'll return to Konoha with the rest of team snake if they wish to come with me." He smirked at Naruto, "Then I'll kick your ass on the training grounds, baka."
Naruto grinned, "You wish, Sasuke-teme. I've gotten a lot stronger. I'll be kicking your ass. Believe it."
"You're not fighting again are you?" Kakashi's voice entered the conversation. The two boys turned to see Sakura and Kakashi walking up to them.
"Of course we are, Sakura, but it's just like old times," Naruto stated.
Sakura smiled at the two of them, "I get it. You're just threatening each other and reducing yourselves to name calling."
Both boys looked slightly sheepish. Naruto didn't bother hiding the expression. Sasuke however glanced up at the sky again hoping no one would notice. Sakura continued to smile at the two as she and Kakashi walked up to them.
"The team is back together again," she commented to the others.
Team 7 stood there in a comfortable silence as they looked up at the stars. No one wanted to say anything and there was really nothing to say. There was a silent agreement among them. All was forgiven and they would pick up right where they left off though there would be a few changes. Sakura would actually fight with them instead of being the weakest link. The three chunin were now Kakashi's partners instead of his students.
After a moment Naruto and Sakura headed back to the camp to get some sleep. Kakashi stayed behind. Sasuke glanced at his old teacher warily. He really didn't want to hear Kakashi rebuke him or anything like that. He still looked up the the copy ninja and knew it would hurt to hear how much he had disappointed Kakashi. To his surprise though Kakashi said something entirely different.
"Well I must say you've grown up, Sasuke."
"What do you mean?"
"There was a time you wouldn't have explained yourself to Naruto. You would have let him go on never understanding what was going on in your head."
Sasuke glanced away, "I still don't think I chose the wrong path."
"I know."
"You think I did though."
Kakashi sighed, "That's a complicated answer, Sasuke. I don't know. Things probably would have turned out differently if you had stayed. For one you leaving made Sakura work hard to become one of the top medical nins in the world. It even kicked Naruto's but into action not that he wouldn't have worked hard anyway but it gave him another motive. Then again it would have been nice to have had you around during that time."
Sasuke glanced back at Kakashi, "I expected it to take more for everyone to forgive me."
"You shouldn't have. Sakura loves you after all and Naruto still thinks of you as his best friend."
"But I'm not even sorry for what I did."
"I know."
"You're disappointed."
"No. I'm not. You have grown, Sasuke. You're not the reckless boy you once were and that is an accomplishment. You've even learned the value of friendship though you still keep everyone at a distance with the exception of Sakura."
Sasuke jerked in surprise, "What do you mean?"
"You haven't noticed? Well, I suppose that's to be expected. You were never good at reading anyone's emotions especially your own."
Sasuke looked at the ground as he considered what Kakashi had said, "So you're not disappointed in me."
"No. Maybe I would be if you turned into the thing that your brother had become but you didn't. So no I'm not. You managed to hold on to what made you human. That changed everything." Kakashi faced Sasuke, "Let's go get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."
Sasuke nodded and stood up. He followed his old sensei back to camp wondering how they could all forgive him so easily. Sakura had told him that they would but some part of him hadn't believed her. He had expected them to hate him no matter what he did or said. But all it had taken for them to forgive him was an explanation. Once they had understood his reasons they had just let him back in as if he hadn't done anything wrong. Maybe Sakura was right. It was just what friends did for each other. They would forgive and forget. They didn't hate him. He hadn't realized just how important that was to him until now. They were the closest thing to family he had. It was nice to know that they still accepted him.
They arrived back at camp. Sasuke paused when he saw Sakura sleeping next to his bed. He smiled a little. The girl was on top of her blankets. She had tried to stay awake until he got back. Sasuke walked over and covered her up then laid down on his own makeshift bed. He fell asleep feeling as happy as he had felt three years ago when he had been a part of this team.
There it is. I hope you enjoyed. I'll try to keep Sasuke more in character now. Anyways please send me a review but no flames. There can be the 'I love/like the story' kind of review and/or the constructive criticism review. That's it. If you don't like the story then don't read it. Do not send me a flame.
