Chapter Three

I woke up and looked around. I noticed I was in the hospital. How did I end up here? I moaned slightly and could feel the onset of a headache and closed my eyes for a second. When I opened them again, I saw light green eyes looking back at me, worry on his face. I sat up slowly and fixed the blankets.

"Gaara..what are you doing here?" I asked him quietly.

"Had to make sure you were alright." he said quietly, looking away. "I..I also thought you'd want to hear about Neji..you know.."

Neji? Was there something wrong? Did something happen? I remained quiet as I thought, then it all came flooding back to me. Rescuing Sasuke, Neji was hurt badly; so was Naruto and Choji. I looked up at Gaara, with a worried looked on my face. "What about Kiba and Shikamaru? Are they okay? What about your siblings?" I looked away and grabbed the blankets tightly.

"Is..did..Sasuke come back with everyone?" I knew it was a stupid question and I already had that sinking feeling that he didn't, but I just needed to hear it from someone. Gaara looked sadly at me and shook his head.

"Your sensei found you passed out next to Naruto. Your brother was gone. Everyone else is alright. Kankuroū and Temari showed up in time to help Kiba and Shikamaru." Gaara said. I sighed. I remembered the conversation between Sasuke and me, but then I blacked out. I couldn't remember anything after that. I gripped my blankets. Everyone put up a fight against the really tough Sound Four Ninjas. They all risked their lives to save fellow ninja, fellow friend, my brother and we all failed. We couldn't even bring him home. I felt the mattress sink next to me, as Gaara sat down. We didn't say anything and I just ended up laying my head on his shoulder, staying that way for awhile.

I woke up a short time later and noticed that Gaara was gone. I looked out the window and saw that it was still daylight. I got out of bed, slowly, feeling wobbly on my feet, my strength not quite up to par. I wanted to go for a walk around the hospital, see how everyone was doing. Naruto's room was right next to me on the left. The door was open slightly and I could hear Sakura talking to Naruto. By the sounds of it, she was crying.

"You have to go back out there and get him, Naruto. You have to bring him home!" she cried. "Promise me...you have to promise me, please! I'm not as strong as you. I can't do it. Sasuke belongs here, not with Orochimaru. Bring him home."

I slid open the door quietly and I sighed softly as I looked over at them. Naruto had bandages wrapped around his head, arms, hands and one on his cheek. I felt my heart ache for him as he looked sadly at Sakura. He loved her and would do anything for her, why couldn't she see that and give up on loving my brother. Out of all the girls who claimed to love Sasuke, to me, she was the worst. Now she was making Naruto do something that seemed more and more impossible. Naruto tried so hard. He tried to bring my brother back, tried to get Sasuke to just stop..hating. I looked at my best friend as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

"Awe, c'mon Sakura. Please stop crying." I heard him say, his voice was just above a whisper. "I just have to train harder, and get stronger then I'll be able to bring him back home. Back where he belongs."

I saw him grin. Naruto, the grinning fool. No matter how broken down he was he was still able to smile. When he saw me, he smiled wider, though I could see it didn't reach his eyes. He waved me over and Sakura quickly got up off the bed and wiped her eyes. I looked at her and she looked away. I gave Naruto a quick hug and sat down next to him.

"How are you feeling, Saya?" he asked me sincerely. "You've been out cold for a few days...or so I've been told." I laughed slightly at that.

"Pfft! You were so totally out cold too Naruto." I pointed out and he grinned again, this time it reached his eyes. We chit-chatted for a bit, then I said my goodbyes, promising that I would come and eat dinner with him later. I said good bye to Sakura who had been sitting quietly, sniffling. She nodded and gave me a small smile.

I left Naruto's room, sliding the door closed and walked down the hall. I asked a nurse where Neji's room was and she pointed me in the right direction. I passed Shikamaru and Temari. Shikamaru gave me a lazy wave, and quickly told me that Choji was almost back to his normal self and that he was glad to see me up and about. I said my good byes to them and continued on. I stopped as I saw Tenten walking towards me. She walked by me and slid open the door walking into Neji's room. I could hear her talking to him as I moved closer to the door. I could see Neji propped up in bed. He didn't have many bandages but as I found out, his injuries were internal. Tenten sat on the edge of his bed and glared at him.

"Don't ever scare me like that again Neji." I heard her say to him. Neji snorted and I saw Tenten shove his shoulder, then collapse on his chest. "You really scared me Neji. I thought you were going to die." Her voice cracked and Neji wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back slowly. Tenten looked up at him and he rested his forehead against hers.

"Nothing can kill me." he joked. "But I'm sorry if I scared you." he said softly, brushing away the few tears that had formed. I felt my heart stop in my chest. What was I witnessing? Neji and Tenten? Sure they were teammates and would do anything for each other, but them as a couple? I watched as I saw her slowly start to kiss him and my heart shattered. I heard her confess her love for him and I felt like I couldn't breath, my world was spinning. I grabbed the door frame to keep myself from passing out. I could see them looking at me, even thought I could hear Neji calling out to me, but I couldn't respond. My chest hurt and I felt the onset of darkness setting in.

I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. It was dark. I could see the stars sparkle in the sky. I sighed. I was still in the hospital; I didn't want to be here anymore. I climbed out of bed and looked for my clothes. I quickly got dressed and slid open the door, making sure I was in the clear, and i slid the door closed again. I walked over to the window, slid it open and climbed up on to the sill, then hopped down. I looked around again once more, then ran off, not noticing Neji on the roof watching me.

Once away from the hospital, I slowed myself down and walked through the empty streets. It was really late, how late? I didn't know. I continued walking through the streets and I stopped outside a very large, two door gate. I bit my lip and took a deep breath as I pushed open one of the big doors and slipped in. I stood there, in the dark, my eyes adjusting to the darkness as I could make out the buildings where people used to live and work.

I walked slowly down the darken street, knowing where to go. Soon I was standing in front of where I used to live. Where I watched my older brother murder my parents. I slid open the door and stepped into the house. The eeriness of silence made me shiver as I walked through the house. The only sound were my footsteps on the wooden floor. I stopped outside the room where my parents were murdered and looked inside. I could see the dried blood that stained the floor and the walls and I quickly walked away. I couldn't face it. Not yet anyway. I walked into the main room and found the secret entrance.

I walked down the stone steps into the basement. The lights came on and down the small hall there was a table with a book on it. I walked up to it and looked through it. Sasuke was right. It had the secret on how to release the Mangekyō. I sighed. I didn't want to believe it but seeing it written down here confirmed it. If Sasuke was working on releasing the Mangekyō,I would have to too, but I couldn't kill anyone..could I? I took the book with me and left the basement. I headed back down the hall to the room where my parents were killed and stepped into the room. I walked to where my parents bodies used to lay and laid down in that spot, curling up hugging the book tightly to my chest. I cried. I cried for Sasuke, for having so much hatred. I cried for Naruto, for having the burden put on him by Sakura, I cried for myself for being weak and pathetic. I just cried, I didn't realize that someone was standing in the doorway, watching me.