The last thing he remembered seeing before he slipped into unconsciousness was her running away, sobbing heavily.

Chapter three
enter some unfriendly faces and some old friends

The next time Sasuke awoke he was lying in his hospital bed again.

He briefly wondered why, then remembered what happened.

'Still stuck in this crazy place...' he muttered, a little disappointed.

He'd been hoping it was all a dream.

'Oh I see you're awake again.' Came Sakura's cold voice from across the room

Sasuke sent her a glare which she returned with interested.

'Don't give me that! You disappear then wind up on the ground in front of the hospital, what happened?!'

'stupid Ino..' Sasuke muttered once he worked out what had happened. Sakura looked surprised

'you saw Ino?'

'yeah. She knocked me out. Saw Kiba too'

'Kiba? I thought he was in hiding...'

'Why didn't you tell me?' Sasuke asked in a low voice

'huh?' Sakura was a little confused

'why didn't you tell me!?' Sasuke asked with more force

'tell you what?' Sakura was more than a little confused and getting annoyed

'oh i don't know, maybe that we are under enemy rule?!' Sasuke said sarcastically

'...oh. that' Sakura's face fell

'why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say it as soon as i woke up so I could...'

'so you could what? Hobble over to the enemy and puppy-dog face them to death? I didn't tell you coz I knew how you'd react.'

'oh really and how is that?'

'exactly like you are now! there is nothing you can do for us! You slept through the whole mess'

Sasuke's face momentarily lost it's edge then fell into a stoic look and he didn't reply.

'you have a visitor by the way' Sakura said as she left the room 'I'll send him in'

Sasuke sat there awkwardly as Iruka and an unknown man entered the room and sat down on the chairs.

The strange new man was wearing a mask that covered half his face, all Sasuke could see where his eyes as they bored into him. big and blue.

Iruka looked much the same, a few new scars, a few more years and some wrinkles and a new hard expression. He'd been through a lot and come a long way from teaching at the academy. He was wearing the hokage hat

'Sasuke Uchiha' said the Man 'My name is Yayoi Hawatari, I understand that you have been in a coma for the last ten years'

Sasuke didn't feel this stupid statement deserved a reply, so he said nothing. But glared at him.

The man nodded and continued

'During this time a lot has happened in Konoha, as you have already seen from your little... escapade' somehow he managed to turn this into a threat.

Sasuke –being the king of cool- was unaffected by this and continued to say nothing.

'but I understand that before you... fell asleep you had been living with Orochimaru. Tell me, did he teach you anything of value?'

Sasuke was a little taken back by this, what did this guy want?

'obviously the information you received is of no use to you now so you are best to just hand it over to me'

'No thanks I think I'll be okay' Sasuke finally spoke in his usual voice

'You aren't a ninja any more. You need to find a new occupation, if you tell me I can give you more than enough money to survive on.' Said Yayoi in a sly tone

'Are you trying to bribe me into giving you information on how to slaughter millions of people? so you can go take over other cities and control them the same way you have here? Taking peoples dogs away from them? No thanks. I think you should leave now'

'ah so you think you are a smart one don't you? Well if you really are so smart then you will realize that there is no options here. Tell me what I want to know'

Sasuke looked over at Iruka and noticed he was avoiding eyes contact.

I see thought Sasuke he's the hokage but he doesn't really have any control

'I really think you should leave' said Sasuke

'I have authority over this city. Tell me what I want to know or suffer the consequences'

'I'm actually very tired. I need some rest. Leave my room now'

'I won't say it again. Tell me'

'and I won't say it again either. Leave or I will call a nurse'

Just as the guy was about to jump from his seat Sakura walked in and quietly asked him to leave

'of course ma'am.' He said politely 'I will be coming back again for those answers Sasuke. I recommend you hand them over'

With that he and Iruka left the room.

'What did he want?' asked Sakura

'the information I learned from Orochimaru... what's with Iruka?'

'well as you can see he's not actually in control. That's just a front the sand village put up, to make it seem like we were ruling ourselves. But as you can see, he can't do much with Yayoi breathing down his neck.'

'It sure is a strange new world...'

'yeah, now get ready. We're going visiting'

'Huh? Who are we visiting?'

'just someone who wouldn't come here. Get up!'

'I'm coming I'm coming...'

Sasuke and Sakura had walked about three blocks from the hospital and were now standing in front of a small apartment with bricks and an untidy garden.

'Who's house is this?' asked Sasuke with confusion

'you'll see' Said Sakura as she led him up the stairs and knocked on the door.

A few seconds later the door opened and a face looked through.

Sasuke could only see half the face but he knew immediately who it was.

Grey hair, an eye patch and a mask covering most of his face.

'Kakashi!' Sasuke gasped, he looked terrible! He'd aged heaps and wore an eye patch over his eye, instead of a headband.

'Sakura? What are you doing here? Who is thi... Sasuke? You woke up?'

Sasuke didn't say anything but felt a little uneasy at the expression Kakashi was giving him.

'come on in, sit down'

He opened the door wider and they entered.

The apartment was small but also immaculately clean, with seemed strange to Sasuke. Who had always imagined Kakashi's house to be a dump.

'How long ago did he wake up? How much does he know? Has he been visited by the special squad yet?' Kakashi was asking Sakura questions as if Sasuke wasn't actually in the room, which pissed Sasuke off.

'I am in the room you know! I woke up two days ago. I know most of the story and who are the special squad?'

'Sorry Sasuke. The special squad are a team of the sand countries most elite jounin, they settle any.. problems and no, he hasn't been visited by them yet. But he has had a visit from Iruka and Yayoi. They wanted information on Orochimaru.'

Kakashi looked down

'Right. I forgot about that' He walked over to Sasuke and punched him hard across the face 'I meant to do it earlier but you seemed weak so I didn't, but now you seem stronger to I am free to yell at you. WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU THINKING?!!'

This was the first time Kakashi had ever really raised his voice at Sasuke so Sasuke was a little shocked.

'Um...'

'It's okay. I have it out of my system now'

'Uh hey if It's okay with you, can I ask what happened to your eye?'

Sakura and Kakashi both looked down and stayed silent

'Oh sorry... should I not have asked?'

'No it's okay. You have a right to know. You know how I mentioned the special squad earlier?'