OK here the next chapter...again, it's not very carefully corrected and looked over, so there could be mistakes. I think Naruto may be a little out of character in this chapter, but I don't know – you tell me.

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the rites to my own imagination.

Chapter 3: Saving a Friend

"Sakura-chan –" Naruto began.

"No!" I couldn't let him finish. This was not going to happen again! "It was just too good to be true, wasn't it?" I demanded. "You were lying – you lied to Kakashi-sensei and me and…and you lied to all of us!"

"You don't understand," he mumbled, looking off to to the right.

My mixed emotions were slowly forming into one: an overwhelming anger like I'd never felt before. How could Naruto do this to me? "Of course I don't understand because you won't explain it!" I yelled, my fists clenched so tightly it hurt. I wanted to punch something, using all my chakra so that it shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. "We're supposed to be a team, Naruto! We're supposed to do things together."

"Together, Sakura-chan?" He turned his head back to me and I saw indignation flare in his eyes. "After you go off and try to kill Sasuke by yourself without telling me?"

"I didn't want to bother you." I knew that sounded lame even as the words fell from my mouth. "I didn't want you to worry."

Surprisingly his expression relaxed. "There," he told me softly. "Then you already know why I lied to you."

"What?"

Naruto sighed, running one hand over the back of his neck. "I had to lie to you all because if I had argued like I wanted, Kakashi-sensei would've probably locked me up somewhere." He held out his hands, as if imploring me to understand. "I know that they think it's important for me to stay away and safe, but I'm the only one who can fight Sasuke."

"You said that before," I frowned. I wasn't angry anymore but I was still annoyed. "But you never said why. You never say why you have to do these things, you just do them and assume we're all going to accept you taking care of everything by yourself!"

Naruto shook his head violently. "No, Sakura-chan, you're wrong. I do things alone because –" He broke off and started restlessly pacing back and forth. "I saw what was in Sasuke's heart. I finally understand how he must have felt all this time. I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, but no one – not even you – would be able to give him the fight he deserves. I'm the only one."

His words rang in my head like a bell: The fight he deserves…the fight he deserves… "You mean," I said coldly, "you're the only one who deserves to kill him."

Naruto stopped pacing. He didn't say anything, only stood looking off into the trees, his face half hidden by the shadow at the edge of the streetlamp's range

"You're the only one who can kill Sasuke," I continued sharply. "And he's the only one who can kill you. Isn't that right, Naruto?"

"Yes."

How could that one tiny word be so painful to hear? "No," I whispered, shaking my head violently. No, I won't believe that…no, it's not going to happen…no, Sakura, don't cry… "No, Naruto, no!"

Naruto sighed. "I'm sorry. You know the others want to kill Sasuke, and you know he's too powerful for them. They would all die, and I can't let that happen. He was about to kill you, Sakura-chan. He's not…not the same as the Sasuke we used to know."

"I know that!" I snapped. He was trying to change the subject and distract me from what he had just admitted. "But he's not the only –" I stopped because I didn't really know what to say.

Naruto gave me a quizzical look. When I only stared back at him helplessly, a sad little smile began to stretch across his face.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan," he said, as he began to walk towards me. "I really did try to keep my promise to you. If I could think of any way to bring Sasuke back, I would do it. I know how much he means to you."

"Wait!" I moved to block his path. I had let Sasuke go because I hadn't tried hard enough. I wasn't going to let that happen again. "Naruto, just hold on a minute. Think about what you're doing!"

"I'm going to save the village!" He flung his arm out, aggressively indicating the village that lay behind him. "I'm going to leave everyone and everything that's precious to me because it's the only way to protect them. I'm going to kill my best friend, and I'm going to die. I know what I'm doing, Sakura-chan!"

I had never been on the receiving end of Naruto's impassioned rants. I had watched countless times as he yelled out his feelings to our friend and our clients, and I had seen how they all responded to it. They had all seen his point and had come to think of him as someone to put their trust and faith in.

But this was different. This time, no one would have seen his point of view. "No!" I grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him a little. "Naruto, you are not going to do that because it's crazy! I won't let you – I'll stop you!"

"How? By confessing your love to me again?"

I stopped. With everything else that was going on I had temporarily forgotten about that.

"You know," he said, giving me a lopsided grin, "if you hadn't said anything back there…if you had just waited and confessed to me right now then I might have actually believed you."

When I just stared at him he broke into a full-fledged grin that made me want to cry. There was not one ounce of happiness in that smile. I looked away, trying to get myself under control.

It wasn't fair. If I said anything now he would know I was just saying it to make him stay, but if I didn't say anything he would know that I had flat-out lied before. I just…didn't know what I felt. As unbelievable as it sounded, I didn't know if my confession had been real or not. Of course I loved Naruto, but was I in love with him? I didn't know. Then again, was I really still in love with Sasuke?

I looked back up at Naruto. He had also changed so much. He used to be such a goofy kid and now he was standing in front of me looking so calm and mature.

"Naruto," I whispered. "If you leave…if you leave to do all those things you said, you'll never –" I took a quick breath to steady my voice. "You'll never fulfill your dream. You'll never be hokage, and you would be a great hokage, Naruto! We all believe –"

"I can't be hokage if I can't even save my best friend."

"I know, you've said that." I frowned in annoyance. "But I think you're just using Sasuke as an excuse so you won't feel guilty about leaving us! You may not have brought him back, but think about everyone else you've saved!"

"It's not…" he trailed off, scratching his head nervously. "It's not an excuse...it's a reason that other people can understand."

"What?"

"Sometimes to do whatever it takes to protect the village, the sacrifice…" Again he stopped. When he continued he seemed to be talking more to himself than to me. "I understand why my dad did what he did. Sacrificing himself, sealing the Kyuubi in me…it was all to protect the village and everyone he cared about." He shook his head. "My own personal goals don't mean much when it comes to the safety of entire village."

I hadn't really heard the last part. "What did you say, Naruto? You're father –?"

He glanced up at me, as if he was surprised I had caught that part. Slowly a grin stretched across his face. A real one, this time. "I met him," he admitted. "When I was fighting Pain, and the Kyuubi started to take over, he was the one who stopped me." His grin spread, making his eyes shine momentarily with his old tenacity. "Sasuke may come from the Uchiha clan, but I'm the son of the 4th Hokage! I've inherited the Will of Fire from my dad and from the Pervy Sage. I'm going to find the answer and bring peace to the world!" He jabbed himself in the chest with a thumb. "So don't you worry about a thing, Sakura-chan because everything's going to be fine. I prom –"

"Don't you dare say you promise me!" I grabbed his jacket in both fists. "So, the 4th Hokage's your father? Do you think he would be proud that you're throwing everything away like this? You keep saying that you're doing this to protect the village but you're not! You're just being stupid and selfish, and – and –" I had done such a good job of holding back my tears so far, but I guess nothing lasts forever. The salty drops fell from my eyes onto the dirt path at our feet as I rested my forehead on his chest. "Don't leave, Naruto," I cried. "Please don't go. I can't go through that again! Don't leave me all alone."

He didn't move for a couple seconds as I continued to cling to his jacket. Then, slowly he raised his arms and placed both hands on my shaking shoulders. I could feel him lean forward; could feel his breath on my ear, the warmth of his cheek next to mine…

"Sakura-chan." His husky voice was a whisper in my ear. "I'm sorry."

Then he was gone.

I dropped to my knees in the dirt and let my sobs consume me. I had failed. I had failed in everything I did. My friends, my team…would I ever see them again? Would I –

"You let him go."

I bolted up in both surprise and anger, to see Sai emerging from behind a tree.

"I did everything I could!" I yelled at him. "Why didn't you stop him? Why didn't you do something if you were here all along?"

"Because this was your choice." He cocked his head at me, his face unreadable. "And you chose to let him leave. After everything he's done for you you're just going to let him go out there alone."

Rage surged through me and I leaped to my feet, my fists clenched. "You – you have no idea what you're talking about! You think you know everything from reading your stupid books, but there's no book that tells you how to change Naruto's mind. There's no one who can do that! I did everything I could!"

Infuriatingly, Sai seemed unaffected by my anger. "Yes, you did everything you could to make him stay, but he didn't stay. So now what are you going to do?"

"There's nothing I can do!" I wailed. Of all the people I could have been having this conversation with right now, Sai was at the very bottom of the list. "He's gone. Naruto's gone and Sasuke's gone. Everything's over!" I wiped angrily at my tears.

"I read once that if you wish to learn how to effectively defeat an opponant you must learn how to think like him. This seems to be the same situation."

"Go away, Sai – leave me alone!"

He ignored me. "The difference between you and Naruto is that if something doesn't work out for you the first time, then that's it. But if Naruto fails at one thing, he accepts it and then moves on from there, trying to figure out another way to win until he eventually does. He just keeps going, no matter what." He glanced off in the direction Naruto had gone. "You didn't stop him from leaving the village, but this is not over yet. If you actually do care about him as much as I think you do, are you really just going to let him fight Sasuke and die?"

"But – but he's gone. What could I possibly do now?"

Sai shrugged. "There are many things you could do. You could go tell Kakashi what happened. Send someone after the Hokage to tell her. You could go after him yourself and spare anyone else the trouble."

Go after him? "But wouldn't that mean I was deserting the village, too?"

Sai looked at me. "This is how you and Naruto think differently. He obviously believes that he is not deserting the village. He believes that he is going after a friend to save him in whatever way he can. Isn't Naruto your friend?"

I stared at Sai as my tears finally stopped. He was right. How was he right? How could he comprehend so little and yet understand so much?

Yes, I hadn't stopped Naruto from leaving, but I had been acting as though he was already dead. I could still stop this if I really wanted to. If I really didn't want to be useless anymore then I would have to stop thinking like Sakura and start thinking like Naruto and Sasuke – both so incredibly driven by their goals and determination to do what they believed was right.

I turned to look out into the dark trees that lined the path. I wasn't leaving the village, I was just going to save my friends.

My resolve was back as I turned to look at Sai. "All right then. Are you coming?"

For the first time I thought I saw the hint of a real smile on his pale face as he tossed a cloak to me. "It is cold. You will need this."

I didn't have a chance to ask him why he was carrying around an extra cloak because he leaped off the path, landing 30 feet away on the nearest tree branch.

I leaped after him. Naruto was right: I didn't have to worry because everything would be fine. For once in my life, I would make sure of that.