Thank you too- NaruHina-love-Cookies123, Kyuubi No Tenshi, bunnyboo1612, Dani, Royal Duke Armadilloer III, WinxPossible, XoStarcircleoX

Konoha Hospital (Kari's room 10:28 AM)

The average sized room was dwarfed with so many people crowding in it. Shikamaru had, like he promised, brought his daughter. Arisa was acting strangely clingy, not letting go of his pant leg and standing so close it made it nearly impossible to walk comfortably. It remind Shikamaru of when she was just learning to walk and realized if she walked close enough to him if she started to trip she could merely grab his pant leg to steady herself.

Neji had brought Rini and Kyo. Rini had walked over to Kari's bedside, just in front of where Naruto and Hinata were sitting, and hadn't moved since just staring at her younger sister. Kyo even seemed to be aware of the tension in the air because he was unusually clam seated in Hinata's lap. Even Amaya was quietly standing next to her father. Worried Ah-Un tried to get her attention with soft whining and nudging her with his head.

This was the site that Sakura walked into. She felt Saki hand drop out of hers as she walked closer standing in between Arisa and Amaya. Sakura maneuvered her way through the people in the room. She started checking some of the machines. She was pleased to see that Kari's face had gained some color and her body was no longer soaked in sweat. The room was completely silent. Everyone lost in their own thoughts.

"Is she going to wake up soon?" Amaya asked bluntly, not fully understanding was going on. Kiba put his hand on her head and she looked up at him her purple irises almost breaking him. He wasn't sure how to have this conversation. Kiba looked to Sakura hoping maybe she had answered this question to a child before. Unfortunately for him the Medic wasn't paying him an attention her mind on her husband who had disappeared before she woke this morning. Kiba bit his lip and began to answer but he was saved at the last second.

"Don't worry 'Maya, they want her to sleep. It helps people get better faster. It's kind of like being sick." Saki answered and Amaya 'oh'ed silently.

Training Ground 14

Sasuke walked down to the training ground and found three students practicing chakra control by climbing trees. He couldn't help his mind going back to the day when he was taught. Times were simpler back then.

None of these Genin had gotten very far yet. Sasuke guessed they had been at it about an hour or so maybe longer. They all seemed to be very frustrated at this point. Sasuke's lips twitched upwards thinking of his own frustration with this particular training.

"Hm, well why don't you guys take a break while I talk to our guest?" Kakashi said closing his book. The three students went wide eyed at the sight of him. The girl took a step back. Sasuke was use to that reaction. Leaf ninja reacted to him in one of three ways: either in awe of the last Uchiha or in fear and disgust of the Konoha trader, or they knew the basic story of him fighting in the war. It depended on their parents and which stories they heard. Most thought that he got off easy. He had betrayed Konoha and that he should have be punished not be treated as a hero. It didn't matter that he had fought on their side during the war.

"Kakashi-Sens-Sempai." Sasuke silently cursed at his mistake. He hadn't called Kakashi his Sensei in years, not since the end of the last Shinobi War, and yet he had almost said it without thinking. Maybe it was because he felt so much like a student right now.

XXX

They walked silently until they left the training grounds. Kakashi knew that something was seriously up with the Uchiha. He hadn't seen him this tense since he had gotten Sakura pregnant with Takuya. That had been quiet a site. "I'm guessing this isn't just a pleasant visit between friends, is it?" Sasuke stopped walking but didn't turn to face him. The irony that they had made the way to the bridge they used to meet on as team 7 didn't miss him.

"Did you hear about Kari's kidnapping?" He didn't have to ask that. He knew the answer. Of course he did. Everyone in the village and most of the villages surrounding it did. It was common knowledge. Kakashi answered none the less.

"Yes, I got back a little after she was found. I went to see Naruto this morning but the room was already full. I was glad to see she was okay." A heavy silence overlapped them. Minutes passed but Kakashi waited knowing that Sasuke would talk when he was ready, and pushing would only annoy the Uchiha which in turn might cause him to leave without finding out what was going on.

"When we found Kari and the bastard that took her…My…curse mark started to act up." Kakashi had figured as much. Sasuke hadn't done a very good job in hiding it. His hand seemed to twitch up to his shoulder every couple minutes. Even sealed the curse mark was a very dangerous thing. "After the war it stopped bothering me. I hoped that because I didn't want to use it anymore it would be defective. But now… After all these years I can't believe it started to take control." Sasuke grabbed his shoulder. The bothersome burning sensation had turned into a more noticeable searing pain.

"I told you when I sealed that mark, Sasuke that the seal is only a strong as your will. And you have a very strong will. Not many people can push the curse back by will power alone." This only further frustrated the now grown Uchiha.

"What if I'm not strong enough? The curse mark leeches of my chakra. When I get stronger so does it. I could have easy kill someone when I was sixteen and I much stronger now, which means so, is it. If I lose control even for a minute….I have a family now Kakashi, kids. I can't just hope that I keep it under control. There has to be a way to destroy the damn thing." Kakashi eyed his normal calm and collected prodigy pacing the length of the bridge. His whole body was stiff as a board as though if he relaxed at all he would lose the fight against himself. Kakashi sighed not knowing how Sasuke would react to what he was about to tell him.

"I'm not sure that's a possibility, Sasuke." Sasuke stopped midstride putting both hands on the bridges rail and leaned against it. "There is only one other person that I know that has that mark. If anyone knows any way to get rid of the mark it's her. I'll talk to her." Sasuke let out a breath turning to see the Copy Ninja smiling at him beneath his mask trying to make light of the situation.

"You think she'll help?" He couldn't turn back into the man he was in the past, when the curse mark clouded his mind feeding on his need for revenge. He had too much to lose.

"Oh, I'm sure she will, with the right motivation." Kakashi eye glinted mischievously. It caught Sasuke attention and he couldn't help but wonder if Kakashi knew this woman better than he let on. Sasuke never thought much of Kakashi and his lack of a serious relationship with woman before. After the war everyone seemed to start a new chapter in their lives, most getting married and having kids. Life was too short. Kakashi was one of the only people he knew that seemed to push even further into the Shinobi world. For a short time he had gone back into ANBU and led the repair of the division. It had taken him years but he had got the ANBU running smoothly again. He had only recently quit to train a new Genin team. The first one he had since team 7.

He shook off the thoughts when Kakashi pulled out his pervse book and stepped off the bridge. It brought Sasuke to say what he had wanted to say for year but was always too proud too.

"Thank you, Sensei." Kakashi stopped in his tracks turning back to Sasuke and for a second he swore he saw the misguided twelve year old boy with a cocky attitude dressed in blue, arms crossed resting on the rail leaning against it looking down at the water instead of the much older man that stood in his place.