Chapter Two

"This town is HUGE!! You actually lived here?!quot; Zeon yelled, his eyes darting all over. The team of four had just arrived at the Hidden Leaf Village.

Arc nudged his cousin hard and growled, keeping his eyes on Hotaru. "Ow, hey!" Zeon mumbled, glaring at Arc and rubbing his arm. But then he noticed Hotaru, observing the town with an expression her teammates couldn't read.

"I'm back…I haven't been here in years! What if Sasuke's still here? Or…Itachi could still be here, too…" she thought.

"Take some time. I'm sure you want to explore a little. Meet us at the motel by the end of the day." said Koji with a smile. Then he walked off with Zeon and Arc, patting Hotaru's shoulder once as he passed her. Hotaru watched them leave and then began to walk along the busy street.

"What am I thinking?" she asked herself. "Of course they wouldn't be here. Sasuke probably left like I did."

Hotaru ventured all over the town. Soon she came to what seemed to be a small memorial stone. Names were engraved all over it. A few flowers growing circled the stone as well.

"I remember this place. Besides the names, it hasn't changed it all…" she said to herself, observing the whole of the scenery with a bit of a smile. But when she looked back at the stone, she began reading through a few names.

Only one Uchiha was named there, and she didn't even know him. But then Hotaru remembered that the people named here were heroes, not victims. But still the memories of her last night here haunted her.

Hotaru fell to her elbows and knees where she stood. She pounded a fist into the ground, hard. "It shouldn't have happened!" she screamed. "They're all gone, dammit! And probably Sasuke, too! He's gone…" Her tears dripped onto the stone ground. Soon she wiped them from her face and stood up.

"But you can't be gone, Sasuke…Itachi, he lied to me…he killed you, too." she muttered, sniffling a few times while glaring at the stone.

"Mind if I join you?" a voice came from behind her. Hotaru jumped and looked behind her to see a man with tall, silvery hair and a navy blue mask over his mouth and nose. She recognized the vest he wore, designating him a jonin. His headband, which had the Leaf symbol, was pulled down over his left eye.

Hotaru just turned back around, pulling her jacket over her front side. The man walked up and stood beside her, his hands stuffed in his pockets. For a while, neither of them said a thing. They merely stood, staring down at the memorial stone. Finally, the man spoke again.

"I don't mean to eavesdrop, but…" he started. Hotaru looked up at him, curious. He continued: "You…mentioned someone by the name of Sasuke?"

Hotaru gasped. "Why do you ask?"

"Come with me." said the man, looking down on Hotaru. Then he turned and started walking towards the trail. Hotaru hesitated, and then followed after him.

A few minutes later, Hotaru was led to the training field. Nothing had changed there, either. What could this man be leading her to?

They stopped and he muttered to himself, "They'll be surprised. I'm earlier than them for once."

Soon, a boy wearing blue and white clothing and the Leaf headband arrived. But this boy was very familiar to Hotaru. She hid behind the man.

"Hey, Kakashi. This sure is a change- you're earlier than even me." the boy scoffed.

"Humph. I'm early sometimes…" the man named Kakashi mumbled with sarcasm. "Sasuke, you've got a friend looking for you."

Hotaru gasped and her eyes grew wide. She slowly turned around as Kakashi stepped out of the way. There, before her, stood Sasuke Uchiha. But he only stared at her, clueless.

Kakashi noticed two other people heading their way. He walked over to them and told them, "Training's off today. Let's go." The other two began barraging him with questions as they left Sasuke and Hotaru alone.

"Do I…know you from somewhere?" Sasuke finally asked.

Hotaru gasped again and spoke softly, "S-Sasuke…It's me!"

Sasuke blinked. He still couldn't quite place who she was.

"It's me…" Hotaru repeated slowly, "Hotaru Uchiha."

Immediately, Sasuke fell speechless. His eyes became wider than Hotaru's had. Her smile only grew as she undid her jacket in the front and showed Sasuke the Uchiha symbol on the front of her shirt.

"But you…" Sasuke finally whispered, "Itachi…he killed you!"

"No…we're the only ones left. You, me, and him." said Hotaru.

Suddenly, Sasuke flung his arms around Hotaru and pulled her close. "I never once thought..you were still out there…" he murmured.

Hotaru felt something small and wet fall on her shoulder. He was crying. She closed her eyes and hugged Sasuke back. But then she noticed it was starting to rain heavily. They heard thunder rumbling off in the distance.

"Sasuke…it was raining then, too," Hotaru whispered, as her own tears fell to the ground once again.

Later..

"So where had you been all this time?" Sasuke asked Hotaru as they sat on a bench sheltered from the rain.

"Well…after Itachi…well, you know…I-I ran away to the Sand Village, in the Land of Wind." Hotaru explained quietly.

"Why did you come back?"

"The Chuunin Exams."

"What?! Y-you're taking part, too?"

"Yeah, why?"

"So am I."

"Really! Have you taken it before?"

"No."

"Me neither. I heard it's hard."

"Yeah."

After that last word from Sasuke, the two were silent for a while. But they had many questions. Sasuke started:

"Hotaru…why is your eye covered up?"

Hotaru blinked. She didn't want to tell him. But she knew she couldn't lie to Sasuke.

"It was Itachi."

"What did he do?!quot;

"He…s-stabbed my left eye. He was the last thing this eye has ever seen since then." Hotaru put a hand to her bandaged eye.

More silence. Hotaru yawned.

"It won't happen again." said Sasuke, breaking the silence with his low, serious statement.

"Huh?" muttered Hotaru, looking up at him. He stood, gazing at the full moon.

"From now on…I'll protect you with my life. We are the only ones left, and we can't let anything happen to each other.  I won't lose you again; you certainly won't lose me."

After Sasuke finished, he trodded off, leaving Hotaru stunned by his words. A moment later, she stood as well and hurried to the motel.

Sasuke was all Hotaru could think about on the way. Once again, he was at her side. Once again, they were together.

He WAS alive.

He hadn't forgotten about her.

A firefly crossed her path.