Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs. Everything else is a product of Masashi Kishimoto's imagination.
Chapter Seventy
Wind swept through her hair and she knew they were moving.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking back and glad that the trees shielded them from most of the light. They were running through the forest, hopping from branch to branch and she could tell from the spiky blond hair before her that Naruto was the one carrying her. It took a moment for her to remember what had happened, but the pain that shot through her helped.
Rei remembered Sasuke, the way he had looked at her and her teammates. Everything he had said, rejecting the bonds that they had once had between them. She could recall how he fought them, attacking without restraint and aiming to kill, it seemed. Most of all, she remembered what he had told her. His words seemed to mock her, calling her weak and daring her to try to reach him. Her arms tightened slightly around Naruto's neck, alerting him of her condition. Naruto turned his head slightly to look at the girl.
"Rei-chan! You're awake!" Naruto said with a smile.
She didn't say anything, instead letting her head rest on his shoulder. Even at a time like this, even after she had failed her teammates, he smiled at her. Rei could still see he was in pain, she had known him for long enough and it hurt.
Naruto felt her shaking and stopped, looking at her in concern. Everyone else stopped and looked back, wondering what was happening.
"I'm sorry," said Rei.
"I-I was too weak...I couldn't..."
She was crying now, Naruto could tell even if he couldn't hear it. He looked at her sadly, knowing how she felt. Both him and Sakura had felt the same way. Both of them had failed as well.
"Hey, hey! It wasn't your fault, Rei-chan!" Naruto said in a happy voice.
"Besides, we still have time, we'll just try again!"
Rei didn't say anything. She knew Naruto was trying to make her feel better, that maybe the same things had been said to him while she was unconscious, and she was grateful. Still, it was clear after what happened that it would be harder to get Sasuke back than they had first thought and it worried her. The thought that she was weak, that she couldn't do anything ate at her and she couldn't bring herself to agree with Naruto, she couldn't even say anything as she cried silently, tears of pain and frustration. It was a bitter lesson, the one they had learned.
Sakura was next to them in an instant, talking with Naruto and asking what had happened. Rei didn't say anything, the wound Sasuke had given her hurt again, no longer numb and she felt tired, more tired than she had in a while. After a moment, she was asleep again, though not as peacefully as she would have liked.
Her skin felt warm, but not uncomfortably so. It was a kind of reassuring warmth that felt so familiar she couldn't help but be at ease. Faintly, she was aware of voices around her.
"...waking up," one said, a man's voice.
"Yeah, yeah, look!"
"Naruto! Be quiet, this is a hospital!"
'Ah, so then if the other was Naruto that must be Sakura chastising him,' Rei reasoned.
Her eyes opened slowly, trying to grow used to the bright room. Just from the white ceiling she could tell that it was a hospital room, which meant they were back in Konoha. Suddenly, an all too familiar and cheerful face appeared within her line of vision. Naruto's bright blue eyes looked down at her in both concern and relief.
"Rei-chan, you're finally awake! How do you fe-"
And then he was gone, pushed to the side by a rather easily distinguishably fist. Sakura stepped in to take his place.
"How do you feel? Your wounds were pretty bad, but they were healing well."
Trying not to flinch, Rei sat up. She moved slowly, careful not to worsen her injuries. Sakura helped her and soon she was resting against soft pillows before the four people visiting her.
Apart from Naruto and Sakura, there was Sai, standing to the side and looking somewhat uncomfortable. Rei didn't blame him, not since he was new to their team and had not started off on Rei's good side.
Jin was also there, sitting next to her bed and with a tired look on his face. He smiled at her in a way that told him he had been worried. It was a smile that showed just how much relief he felt at seeing her awake.
"Hey brat, about time you woke up," he said.
"Have I been out for long?"
"You were unconscious all the way back to Konoha," Sakura said as she checked on her wounds.
It was at times like these that Rei remembered just how good a medic she was.
"Have we been here for long?"
"No, we got back yesterday. We've already reported to the Hokage."
Honestly, Rei had forgotten all about reporting to the Hokage. She was glad she hadn't had to stand before Tsunade and tell her how badly she had done.
"How do you feel Rei-chan?"
Naruto was back up and next to the bed. Rei smiled at the other blond, an effort she would only make for her team and the few others who were close to her.
"I'm fine, just tired I guess."
Naruto nodded and she noticed something different about his expression. Perhaps her smile hadn't been as convincing as she had thought. Then again, it was Naruto, one of the few people that could understand how she felt at the moment, mainly because he felt the same way. He too had trained for the last few years, pushing himself to his limits in order to get Sasuke back to Konoha and he too had failed to do so. Even so, back in the forest, he had tried to comfort her, pushing aside his own pain to smile and tell her it was okay, that it wasn't her fault.
"Naruto-kun,"
He looked back at her as she smiled as best as she could.
"We'll get him next time."
At this, Naruto smiled and nodded with determination. She didn't have to tell him who, they all knew and they all had made the same resolution.
"We'll just have to train more," she added.
"And this time I'll help you as well."
Rei looked over at Sai, a bit surprised that he would offer to help them, but a lot had changed during the mission. She nodded at him, her smile still in place.
"Yeah, that's right."
They stayed for a while, talking and keeping Rei company. It was good to listen to Naruto and Sakura argue like usual. Strangely, it served to lighten the mood and it made Rei relax a bit, even if she couldn't completely forget about what had happened. Jin sat back and watched everyone with a calm smile, not talking too much, just like Sai. Really, the new member of team Kakashi seemed a bit uncomfortable, almost like he felt out of place, but Rei trusted that he would get more comfortable in time, especially with Naruto around.
"We should probably leave so Rei can get some rest," Sakura said after a while.
Naruto wanted to protest, but seemed to think better of it and just smiled.
"Yeah, I guess that's true. Hey, we can go visit Kakashi-sensei now."
"Oh, is he still in the hospital?" Rei asked.
"Yeah, he's fine, but he needs some rest. His chakra was exhausted," explained Sakura.
"Is that so? Well, tell him I said hi when you see him since I'm pretty sure they won't let me leave this place."
Naruto grinned, knowing how much Rei hated the hospital while Sakura nodded.
"Of course not, you need to rest too. You used up too much chakra and your injuries were pretty bad too."
"I feel fine though," Rei muttered.
Sakura ignored her, just like Rei thought the med-nin would.
"Bye Rei-chan we'll come back soon," said Naruto.
"Don't strain yourself and make sure to rest," Sakura reminded her.
"I hope you get better soon," Sai told her before they all left.
The door closed behind then, making only a soft sound. Only Rei and Jin were left, and she could practically feel him thinking of whatever it was he wanted to tell her. Most likely, he was going to tell her off for being so reckless.
"You saw him, then?" was the first thing he said.
Rei didn't look at him, she didn't even speak, just nodded. She heard him sigh and from the corner of her eye, saw him lean back in his chair.
"And you couldn't kill him."
He didn't even bother to make it a question, something that irritated Rei. She knew what he meant, that she didn't just fail in strength, but also in resolve, something she resented.
"It wasn't because I didn't want to," she said.
"You know I said I would give the others a chance to bring him back, that I would help them."
"But you couldn't even bring him back. Tell me, would you honestly have been able to kill him?"
Rei glared at him, trying to stay calm. Jin just sighed once more and shook his head.
"Sasuke won't come back, no matter how hard you try, you should know that."
Frustration and maybe a bit of anger at her mentor was all Rei felt at the moment. She gripped her sheets tightly, trying not to think about how right Jin was. She had seen it in Sasuke's eyes, the same kind of determination Naruto had in getting back his old friend, only Sasuke felt determined to kill Itachi, no matter what. It was his desire for revenge that drove him on, that pushed him to give up anything, even his body, as long as he was able to defeat the man that had taken away his family.
"I don't care, Naruto thinks he will and I have to help him, no matter what, I have to try."
"Don't lie to yourself," snapped Jin.
"You know as well as I do that the only reason you're so fixated on this is because you want to beat Sasuke. You are the one who wants to go after him, maybe even more than Naruto."
"That's not true!"
"It is! all this time I've spent with you I've seen it. You put everything into getting stronger, you trained until you were exhausted and even now you're thinking of what you can do to get stronger all for what?"
"For my teammates! They're all I have, they're my family and I can't let them down..."
Jin looked at his student with a saddened look.
"No, you do this because you want to. Your reasons for going after Sasuke are the same as his reasons for going after his brother."
Rei looked up at him, wanting to argue, but he shook his head.
"You're both going after the person who hurt you the most, the person that you loved so much you would have never thought you would hate as you do now. Both of you are focused on vengeance, you're looking for retribution for what Sasuke did to you, but you can't see that what he did is nothing compared to what you're doing to yourself."
There was a pleading tone in his voice now, as if asking her to reconsider, to forget about Sasuke, but she couldn't.
"Stop blaming yourself for everything and stop going after him like this. It's not too late for you to fix things, but if you keep this up-"
"What? I'll become like Sasuke? Is that what you think?"
Jin didn't answer, it was clear what he was going to say.
"I won't, I'm not like him. I wouldn't leave everyone, I wouldn't!"
"But you'll push everyone away! Just let the others help you, you don't have to do everything on your own and you don't have to blame yourself for what he did."
Rei stopped and stared at Jin.
"It's not your fault that he left and it's not your fault that he's still gone," he told her.
"It is," she said quietly.
"I was too weak to do anything, even when Naruto and Sakura were there, I couldn't do anything."
"It's not your fault, it was never your responsibility to bring him back or kill him. I'm sure your teammates feel the same way, they would never blame you for what happened."
"But I was the one who should have stopped him. Back then...back then, I should have stopped him, I should have gone after him or tried harder. If I hadn't held back in the beginning..."
Jin knew she was talking about the fight at the Valley of End. A long time ago, back when he was training her, she had told him about it, she had told him everything about Sasuke and even though she hadn't said it, he knew she had been blaming herself since then. He didn't say anything as she sat there, staring down and trying not to break down, because he knew she was trying. He just stood and sat next to her, not letting her protest as he wrapped his arms around her in a rare show of affection.
"It wasn't your fault you stupid kid."
Rei sat there, shocked at this. Jin rarely hugged her, preferring instead to show his affection through brutal training methods. Slowly, she relaxed in his arms, glad to have him there and realizing for the first time how very much she needed him. She didn't say anything, instead hugging him back, she didn't even realize she was crying until she felt the tears sliding down her cheeks. Jin held her for a while, not saying anything, understanding that she needed this and that it was one of the few things he could do for her.
He left late and only because the nurses kicked him out, saying Rei needed to rest. Rei didn't want to tell them she needed her teacher, but he understood.
"I'll come back tomorrow morning, now get some rest," Jin told her, patting her head like he did when she was younger.
She gave him a small smile and nodded.
"Jin-nii, thank you."
The man blinked in surprise, but grinned a moment later.
"Stupid brat, like I did anything. Just hurry up and get better! You know that house of yours is creepy when no one's there."
Rei laughed lightly and he left. It was a long night after that. She couldn't sleep too easily, not when Sasuke's words kept swimming around in her head.
'If you hate me, kill me, but before you try to, grow stronger.'
She wondered if that was how Sasuke felt after Itachi had killed his family. Had he too been haunted by his face, by his voice mocking him and telling him how weak he was. She sighed. Of course he had been, that was why he had left, but she couldn't, not when she had Jin and her teammates. She wouldn't go down the same path as Sasuke. Those were her last thoughts before she fell asleep.
End Chapter Seventy
HA! Another chapter! I finally got off my butt and wrote something. I'm so proud of myself. *weeps from happiness* ahem...yeah, anyways, please review if you have the chance, that always helps, actually, I had to read my reviews to get inspired to write. So yeah, thatnks to everyone who reviews/alerts/favorites me and my stories. Until next time!