I do not own Naruto okay? Since I got a good streak going with the last chapter, I figured I would update much sooner than I was expecting to. So with that, I got this chapter going. So enough of this A/N, on with the fic!

Sakura looked around as she came too slowly. She tried to get up, but only winced at the pain. I'm in the hospital... She said, registering the familiar look of one of the rooms. But last I knew I was arguing with Sasuke about why leaving the village was a bad idea. As she was piecing together the events of the day before she blacked out, the door opened to find Tsunade and Kakashi standing there. "Lady Tsunade!" Sakura said as she attempted to spring to full attention.

"Relax." Tsunade said heading over to her bedside. "Have a drink of water." She poured Sakura a glass and handed it to her. "You were found by the guards at the village gates. You were unconscious and one of the guards brought you straight here once they saw you. Now what I need to know is, what happened before you blacked out?"

Sakura sighed. She knew that it was pretty much over with Sasuke but having to tell others about the fight was not going to be easy. Sure he may have been a bastard to her about the situation, but she still cared for him. They were on the same team for years and she had loved him since she was young. Yet, this side of him that came out, she couldn't ignore any longer. However, she did not want Tsunade thinking less of her because of what happened as well. Kakashi seemed to see this on her face and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Look Sakura, neither one of us is going to think less of you because of what happened with Sasuke. We all know you and know how you really are. And if you are afraid of what will happen to Sasuke, you cannot protect him from his own decisions. This was his conclusion that he had come to on his own and nothing you could do would have kept him." Kakashi said.

"But we do need to know what his plans were. All three of us put a lot on the line when we allowed him to come back to the village after he went rouge the first time and so, we need to form a plan of action." Tsunade said.

"Why did you assume he left the village?" Sakura asked, wondering what was going on. Tsunade and Kakashi were her teachers and she knew how much they both cared about her, but she hadn't said anything about what Sasuke was going to do yet.

"It seems so, just by the appearance. The chief of police had let him go early but he had not reported for his morning shift." Tsunade said. "This is why we need to know what happened last night."

Sakura laid back and explained everything that happened. How Sasuke was acting morose and would not talk to her about anything. How he was complaining about how the village saw him as a rouge ninja and nothing more. How he thought he was living a lie. How he blamed her for what happened with the miscarriage and how Sasuke thought that his whole life depended on two things: killing Itachi, and restoring the Uchiha clan. Then she explained how he thought that Sakura had purposefully induced a miscarriage and caused infertility to trap him into staying with her. With this, Tsunade clenched her fist and looked down. Sakura was like an adoptive daughter to her and anyone who would even entertain a thought that she would do something so low, so vile just to keep a man was someone she wanted to destroy.

Kakashi nodded as he heard Sakura's story and stood up. "Mi lady, I volunteer to go after Sasuke and bring him back to be judged for all crimes he may have committed against the Leaf Village. He is my student and I apparently have failed in my duties as a sensei, so I must atone for my failure."

"You didn't fail Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said. "It's all Sasuke's deluded mind!"

"I spoke with him earlier and he told me he understood the lesson I tried to teach." Kakashi said sternly. "I had a similar type of conversation before he left the first time."

"You will not be faulted for Sasuke's decision." Tsunade said looking at Kakashi. "I do want you leading the team to bring him back. With your Sharingan and history with him, you will be one of the best to do so. I want you to assemble a squad at your own discretion. If he left he's got one thing on his mind and that is to destroy Itachi." Tsunade then turned to Sakura. "I am sure Naruto told you that Itachi had been spotted and is assigned for a mission for ANBU to take him out." Sakura nodded. "Well that is where I would start." Tsunade suggested to Kakashi. "If you can meet up with ANBU, do so. If not, let's worry more about bringing Sasuke back and to justice. This shit is going to stop. I will not have a nin who will get upset at a tragic event in his life and then blame others and run away like a bratty child. Team 7, Kakashi and I went out on a limb to get him clemency for going rouge the first time. We all believed he could move on and prove a valuable asset to the village. He has proved otherwise."

Kakashi nodded. "I will assemble the team as soon as I can." With this, he left and headed out to pick the ninja he believed would be best for the mission.

Sakura looked at her hands. Her feelings were conflicting. She was wanting less and less to do with Sasuke after what happened before he left, it was the same as before. She pleaded for him to stay and he still left, knocking her out. Tears swelled in her eyes as she placed her face in her hands and began to cry. "What's wrong?" Tsunade asked, sitting at Sakura's bedside.

"It's just like when he left before! He said he was going to leave with some speech that was full of crap and knocked me out and left!" Sakura said. "Because of that I vowed to get stronger and he still leaves again! I did not get any stronger at all!"

"You're just overcome with guilt. Believe me Sakura, you've become much much stronger than anyone could have dreamed of. You mastered the 100 healings jutsu. Shizune could never have done that. You're one of the most skilled in curing poisons. You've done well with the techniques I have taught you. I am honored you were my student." Tsunade said.

"You really think so?" Sakura said.

"Yes." Tsunade said. "Now you will need to get some rest. One of your vital chakra points were hit and that is what caused you to fall unconscious in the first place upon our examination. Honestly, I was more worried about the injuries that could have happened from the fall. It seems nothing more than bruising of the spine and a few joints. You will be fine in a few days. And I want to make sure you are doing well."

"Well, it's like you said Lady Tsunade, it should take a few days and I will talk with some of the medics in the physical therapy department too. I should be to full strength again in a few days." Sakura said.

"Yes, you may be physically 100% soon and this injury will be nothing but the past, but mentally. I know this has impacted you harshly and I don't want you to blame yourself for all that has happened. None of it was your fault. You fulfilled your duty much better than I had expected. I had worries that when you got together with Sasuke, you would forget who you are inside. I was right there for awhile but the fact you stood up to him and actually tried to stop him this time shows me a lot." Tsunade said.

"Huh?" Sakura asked.

"Well according to your testimony when Sasuke left the first time, all you did was say you'd scream and go with him. Now, it seems you had gotten into a battle, maybe not a disastrous one that caused tons of damage but one that showed you believed what you thought was right was what you were willing to stand up for." Tsunade said. Sakura looked into Tsunade's eyes and then Tsunade went on, "Yet I do know this, you blame yourself for the miscarriage and him blaming you made that feeling worse. Sasuke is your teammate and husband. Or at least was. I suggest you move on, because after this, there will be nothing to spare him from the worst the elder's tribunal will have to offer. I think that unless we handle this well, we may get the third degree at least. But we offered him the chance to change his life, move on and become the one who restarts the Uchiha clan and makes them honorable again like they once were. He proved otherwise." Tsunade said. "Look, I know love does not fade easily. You know that Orochimaru and Jiraiya were my partners when I was your age, correct?"

"Yes Lady Tsunade." Sakura said.

"Imagine how I felt to find the man I had trained with, fought side by side with did the horrible things he did. How it felt to find he killed our sensei. But I knew where I was needed the most. Konoha. It was actually Naruto's spunk that convinced me of what I needed to do. He reminds me a lot of Jiraiya..." Tsunade said with a reminiscent smile. Back during the Invasion of Konoha years before, Jiraiya had been killed before Tsunade could say how she had felt. How that after all these years, finally she had come to terms with Dan's death and found who had been there for her through everything that she had been through and understood her.

"I didn't have as much interaction with Jiraiya-sensei like Naruto did, but the few times I did, I could see that Naruto picked up well from him." Sakura said with a smile. "He's got a big heart if nothing else."

"I want to meet with you daily for just some time to talk. This isn't going to be easy for you to get over. Don't lie to me, I can see it on your face Sakura, you are my student after all." Tsunade said as Sakura began to object. "You haven't reconciled everything yet. Love isn't an easy emotion to handle. It's part of your treatment for all of your injuries."

"I will do so Lady Tsunade." Sakura said.

"Good." Tsunade said. "Now get some rest, I have some rounds to do and some paperwork to do now that this has happened. I will come back to talk again after dinner tonight."

Kakashi stood at the village gates looking around. He had picked a team from reliable ninja who had known Sasuke for awhile. They were to leave at sunset to use the cover of night to catch up to Sasuke and hope that he would have taken some time to rest knowing that Sakura was the only one who knew he had left.

"So, we have to get Sasuke back again?" Shikamaru said as he lit a cigarette standing by Kakashi. "What a drag."

"Yeah." Kiba said as he and Akamaru followed behind "At least we don't have 4 cursed freaks with him this time."

"But that is no reason to underestimate him. He had years to train and improve his skills. No one can deny he is a prodigy himself." Neji said.

"But we will bring him back in the end." Chouji said.

"We're one member short..." Kakashi said as he looked up and saw some ink birds fly overhead.

"I have sent a few of my super beast scroll birds ahead to gather intelligence and look for any sign of him. Leaving in such a temper may have caused him to be careless." Sai said as the group nodded.

"Good." Kakashi said. "Now we are to try to bring him back alive. Lady Tsunade wants Sasuke to face justice for this. We had put our names on the line to give him clemency and he betrayed us once again. However, the order is that if capture seems too risky or he cannot or will not be brought back alive, we do have orders that we can kill him. But this is to be avoided at all costs." He explained as he opened up a scroll with a map of the Land of Fire. "As you can see this is the Leaf Village and he has about a 24 hour start on us. But we also have reason to believe that he has taken some rest as he left thinking that no one would miss him and that any attempts to bring him back would not be started for awhile. I thank you Sai for sending those birds ahead to see if he could be spotted." He rolled up the map. "Now let's go. Every minute we wait to get started, is a minute he gets ahead.

The team nodded and followed Kakashi out of the gates, hot on Sasuke's trail.

So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I didn't expect to get the spark to write so much on this one so close to updating but I guess it happens. I don't have much else to say here, so remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,

otherrealmwriter

aka

Realm