Chapter Eleven: Lies and Denials

Disclaimer: I own Naruto :)

The weary group stumbled into the bridge builder's house, with Sasuke and Naruto supporting their sensei. The room they entered was somewhat small, and elevated on a wooden platform – which Naruto nearly tripped over on his way up. Tazuna's daughter looked at them with alarm, and wordlessly made a bed for Kakashi.

Kakashi shooed his genin away as he laid down, groaning as he did. Naruto frowned, but sat on the ledge, while Sasuke sat down next to Tazuna, who had slumped onto his back. Once Kakashi settled into place, Sakura checked his abdomen wound.

"You opened your wound Sensei." She frowned. "I told you we should have gone slower!"

"Sakura, I am fine." Kakashi winced as Sakura dressed the wound once more. "Truthfully, it's my overuse of the Sharingan that has me like this."

Tazuna's daughter appeared thoroughly confused and looked at her father, who just shrugged. She then left the room to make tea, and Sakura frowned at Kakashi.

"Does that mean you can only use the Sharingan for thirty minutes at a time before you become useless?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke suppressed a snort, and started going through his pack.

"Maa, that's a little harsh." Kakashi protested.

Well, you did collapse, Sasuke thought privately.

Not that he blamed Kakashi; as a full blooded Uchiha, Sasuke had deep reserves that allowed him to use his Sharingan for prolonged time. However, even he would get exhausted after a while, and he had to build up his tolerance on how long to use it. Kakashi, who doesn't have an ounce of Uchiha blood in him, would be at a natural disadvantage.

"Sensei, you collapsed." Sakura said, mirroring Sasuke's thoughts. "If you can only use it for half an hour at a time before having a serious toll on your body, then what good is it?"

"She has a point, you know." Naruto added, turning fully to face the silver haired man. "How'd you even become a jōnin with that handicap?"

"I'll have you–" Kakashi grunted in pain as he attempted to sit up. Sakura immediately pushed him back down, and he gave her a pathetic glare. "I'll have you know I became a jōnin before I received this Sharingan."

"How did you get it, anyway?" Naruto asked.

That is the question, is it not? Sasuke thought as he looked at his sensei. Sasuke never asked Kakashi, and Kakashi never shared – although Sasuke was curious, he knew better than to ask personal questions like that.

And rightfully so, it would seem, Sasuke thought to himself as the atmosphere turned dark. Kakashi didn't respond right away, and Naruto looked like he wanted to take back his question. Sakura gave Naruto a reprimanding glare, and Naruto shot back an apologetic expression.

"It was a… graduation gift. But more importantly than that, I want to discuss your blatant lack of respect for authority. I gave each of you an order, and you actively disobeyed me."

"Did we?" Sakura asked, looking up at Naruto. "I heard Kakashi say to protect the bridge builder; didn't you?"

"Sure did!" Naruto agreed, nodded his head. "And I think we obeyed that perfectly, wouldn't you say, old man?"

The old man in question glanced over with a grin. "I ain't got a scratch on me, thanks to Sakura-san here!"

Sakura blushed, and Kakashi sighed.

"Yes, you did do that. However, I also told you to not engage in the battle, and to run away once I got captured."

"Hmm…" Naruto said, tapping his chin. "Did you tell us that? I don't remember. Sakura-chan? Teme? You guys remember something like that?"

"No… Oh! But I do remember Kakashi-sensei telling us that anyone who abandons their comrades is lower than trash!" Sakura piped up with a smile.

"Ah, I remember him saying that, too. Kakashi-sensei, I don't think your memory is quite what it used to be."

Kakashi groaned loudly, muttering "cheeky little brats" under his breath. Naruto and Sakura both laughed, and a small smile twitched on Sasuke's lips.

"Okay, well next time an extremely dangerous ninja with a moniker like The Demon of Kirigakure appears and I tell you to run away, run away."

Tazuna's daughter returned to the room with a tray of tea right then, and looked at Kakashi with wide eyes.

"Demon of Kirigakure?" Tazuna's daughter asked, alarmed. "Dad, what happened?"

"Oh, it was nothing, Tsunami. Nothing! Just a minor squabble between these fine ninjas here, and an attacker. Nothing we couldn't handle." Tazuna assured his daughter, wiping away sweat with a cloth.

Naruto snorted loudly, but otherwise remained silent as he whipped out his rolling bed. Tsunami pressed her lips together, but didn't push the issue. She gave a cup of hot tea to Kakashi first, and then to her father, before passing the remaining three cups to the genin.

"By the way," Sakura started, taking a sip of tea, "Why did you call him The Demon?"

"Well, because that's what he's known as in the Bingo Book. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Sakura started slowly. "Because the ninja we captured on our way over mentioned something about the demon being after us…"

Tsunami whipped her head over to Sakura at the mention of captured ninja, and then back at her father with a concerned, disappointed look. Tazuna shrugged sheepishly, and Tsunami frowned, shaking her head. Kakashi, meanwhile, managed to muster surprise.

"When you were interrogating him?" Kakashi asked, to which Sakura nodded. "And all three of you heard this?"

Sasuke and Naruto nodded slowly, looking at each other, and then back at their sensei. Since Sasuke was already aware of Zabuza's existence, the mist chūnin's words hadn't even registered to him – let alone as information that Kakashi should know about.

Kakashi gave a deep sigh, and muttered something about irritating kids and the need to teach better.

"Okay, next time you are interrogating anyone, tell me every detail. We are a team, and that means we need to be in constant communication in regards to the mission, and not withhold any information." Kakashi paused and gave his students a stern look – which perhaps would have been more effective if he hadn't been bed-ridden. "I need this to get through your heads: information is a matter of life and death."

The trio all looked at one another, sharing similar expressions of embarrassment.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said, bowing her head. "It won't happen again."

Kakashi looked at Naruto and Sasuke with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes Kakashi-sensei," they both replied, Sasuke rolling his eyes as he did so.

"Good."

"I have another question that's been bothering me for a while." Sakura said. "Who was that masked kid?"

Sasuke glanced over at Sakura, who was in the process of taking out her bedroll.

"That's the mask worn by the Kirigakure special hunter-nin team. They are also known as the body erasers, and their duty is to completely dispose of the body without a trace." Kakashi explained.

Sasuke tuned out the conversation as he stared out the window, going over everything he knew about Zabuza and Haku. Since he already had a handle on their abilities, Sasuke began to form an attack plan. It wasn't likely that Kakashi would allow them to fight Zabuza again, which meant they would inevitably face Haku again.

And Haku… Didn't seem to possess any weaknesses.

Honestly, Sasuke was completely at the boy's mercy during their fight until he activated his Sharingan. Fire was useless against him – amaterasu likely would have been enough, but that was a jutsu he no longer possessed.

Okay; enough dwelling on useless things. What can I currently do? His best bet without the Sharingan would be to avoid Haku's ice mirrors and capitalize on the Lightning Release jutsu that he knew.

Or for Naruto to be smart enough this time around to not get himself trapped again, and for them to work together. Sasuke frowned; did he really want to rely on Naruto's help to defeat him though?

True, Naruto defeated the ice boy last time; but that only happened because Haku overpowered Sasuke. And Haku overpowered him because he didn't have enough strength last time, but Sasuke had proven that he was stronger now than he was back then. Right?

Sasuke glanced at the blonde, who looked shocked upon hearing that Zabuza was likely alive. His gaze shifted to Sakura, whose eyes seemed to dull with self-loathing. Her eyes suddenly met his, and he looked away.

"That means we need to prepare, right Sensei?" Naruto asked. "If that guy is alive like you said, then we need to get stronger."

"Naruto, what help is that going to be?" Sakura asked, sounding rather tired. "Kakashi-sensei struggled against him even with the Sharingan."

"Exactly!" Naruto shot back. "Even with the Sharingan, Kakashi-sensei struggled, and if he struggled, then how much more will we? Tell me, Sakura-chan, what else can we do? If we do nothing, won't that be worse for us, and Tazuna's village?"

Sakura pressed her lips together, and looked away.

"We are ninja, you know! We fight the bad guys, and we win! But we can't win, let alone protect everyone, if we do nothing." Naruto turned to their teacher. "Kakashi-sensei. We need to get stronger, so please teach us some super cool jutsu that'll defeat that jerk!"

"Naruto is right." Kakashi affirmed. "And Sakura, don't forget: you three helped immensely during the fight. You three are improving rapidly, and are more powerful than you think."

Sakura frowned, but didn't argue. Sinking into herself in a thoughtful manner, Sakura asked, "So, we train… but what if he shows up again too soon?"

"We have some time. A person put in momentary death should take about a week before their body returns to normal. In the meantime, I'll teach you guys something that will help you in battle. Obviously, this is just until I get better; you guys won't be able to defeat him without me."

"Great! This is gonna be fun!" Naruto exclaimed as the front door opened.

Everyone turned their attention to a small boy with a striped boat hat and a sullen expression on his face. He scowled further upon seeing the ninja. Sasuke remembered this kid; his first impression then was similar to his impression now: a rather annoying, entitled brat who whined too much.

"Inari!" Tazuna exclaimed, spreading his arms out. "Where were you?"

"Welcome back, grandpa." Inari said instead of answering, taking his shoes off before climbing up onto the platform.

Inari ignored Team Seven, and hugged his grandpa, who patted his head.

"Say hello to these people." Tsunami said, rubbing Inari's shoulder. "They are the ninja who protected grandpa."

Inari looked at Team Seven, and then back at his mother, pointing at the ninja. "Mom… these people are going to die."

Here we go, Sasuke mentally braced himself for the explosion that was Naruto. However, instead of getting angry, Naruto gave the small child what he likely thought was a charming smile.

"Listen up, kid! The name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm a superhero who will become an incredible ninja called Hokage! This Gatou guy got nothing on me, or my teammates. I promise we'll defeat him, and save everyone."

Inari stared at Naruto for a moment. "You're an idiot, aren't you?"

Naruto's grin slipped into a scowl, and raised a fist. "Okay, listen here you brat–"

"There's no such thing as a hero!" Inari interrupted him, fists clenched. "If you don't want to die, you should leave."

Naruto frowned as the kid turned towards the large paper door.

"Where are you going, Inari?" Tazuna pleaded.

"To look at the ocean from my room," he said, not bothering to look back at them as he shut the door behind him.

"Sorry…" Tazuna apologized. "That kid… he's been through a lot."

"Yeah, we all have." Naruto huffed. "The brat will learn in time."

Kakashi cleared his throat. "I think we should all rest some for a bit, and then we'll train."

"Yes Kakashi-sensei."

Sweat trickled down Sasuke's forehead as he created a small, pulsing orb of lightning in front of him. He sent it forward—

And fizzed out of existence with a pathetic pop. Growling, he once again moved his hands to perform the seals. It should not be this difficult!

"Augh!" Naruto groaned, and cursed loudly. "Why is this so hard? It shouldn't be this difficult!"

The noise brought Sasuke out of his concentration, and the ball of lightning once more fizzed out right in his face. Sasuke dodged the explosion, but his hair did crackle.

Sasuke glared at Naruto, who was trying to make his weapons fly faster with his jutsu. The kunai he threw had hit everywhere except the target, of course, and Naruto huffed in frustration. Meanwhile in Sakura's corner, the stones she created each hit its target, but didn't have enough force to pierce her targets very deeply. Which was an improvement from when they first started working on their new jutsu that Kakashi had given them three hours prior.

Since the trio already knew how to walk on water and on trees, Kakashi decided to give them each a scroll containing a new elemental jutsu to work on instead.

Well, he gave Sasuke and Sakura a new jutsu; he told Naruto to work on the Wind Release jutsu he taught him a month ago. Since Naruto had a tendency to rely on his clone jutsu and disregarded pretty much everything else, Kakashi told him to figure out a way to improve Wind Release: Gale Palm. So far, the results were…

Dismal.

Naruto cursed again after another failed attempt, and Sakura turned to Naruto. Sasuke once again went through the seals and produced another blue ball of lightning

"Naruto, you are using too much chakra, again. Remember: chakra uses spiritual energy, so you can't get too excited." Sakura told him. "The more excited you get, the more chakra you use unnecessarily."

Naruto didn't look very encouraged, so Sakura sighed, and walked over to Naruto. "Remember how when Sasuke taught us to walk on trees and water, we needed to relax and focus on just the right amount of chakra or else we sank or made our surroundings explode?"

For a moment, Sasuke thought his lightning ball would fizzle out again, but he refocused his concentration and it remained where it floated.

"But I am relaxed!" Naruto protested.

"Not relaxed enough!"

Naruto stubbornly set his jaw, threw his kunai and performed the jutsu – and somehow managed to make the wind blow backwards. With a shout, Naruto fell backwards behind a bush. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke walked over to Naruto and helped pull him to his feet. Sakura stepped back, watching the exchange with her arms crossed.

"Naruto, you're too agitated." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, so Sakura-chan said." Naruto glared, brushing dirt and bristles off his clothes.

"What I mean is," Sasuke paused, searching for the right words; what did nii-san tell me, again? "When you are too focused on getting it right, you put too much pressure on yourself, which will hinder your ability to complete the jutsu correctly."

"Okay?" Naruto said.

"What I'm saying is, do it without thinking. You're good at that."

Naruto crossed his arms, screwing his face up in thought.

"What if we have a competition on who can hit their targets most accurately and fastest with their new jutsu?" Sakura suggested. "Just focus on beating us, and I get the feeling you'll figure it out in no time."

Naruto brightened up immediately. "That's a great idea, Sakura-chan."

Once their targets were decided and timers set, they each took their position.

"Timer set, get ready… start!" Sakura called out; her hands ready to unleash her jutsu.

Lightning Release: Lightning Ball! Sasuke sent forth the first ball into a marked tree, and before it even impacted, created another orb of lightning into a rock. He created another orb, and pushed it into a tree in his blind spot, and finally—

"Done!" Sakura called in triumph just as Sasuke hit his final target.

Sasuke cursed silently to himself, and glanced over at his pink-haired teammate. She looked closely at her timer, and watched as her smile slipped into a scowl.

"Ten seconds. Seriously?" Sakura said upon looking at her timer, deflated. "If this were a real battle, I'd be dead…"

"Nah, you'd be fine. Teme, however, would definitely be dead. Slow as a sloth, that one!" Naruto said, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Except I was faster than you." Sasuke pointed out.

"No way!" Naruto glared at the raven-haired youth. "I was clearly the victor! I was at least a second faster."

"Hardly." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke, who tried to keep a look of cool indifference.

"Did you guys look at your stopwatches?" Sakura asked.

Both of them looked at their stopwatches – and discovered that neither of them actually stopped the timer when they finished.

"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, turning to the girl in question. "Who was faster? Me or duck-butt?"

She raised an eyebrow before chuckling, shaking her head as she did so.

"It was a tie, Naruto." Sakura said.

"No way!" Naruto protested one more time. "I think you need to get your eyes checked."

"I think you need to get your eyes checked." Sasuke mumbled.

"What was that, teme?"

"Hn." Sasuke responded. And although he chose not to smile, the annoyed look on Naruto's face made him amused.

"Okay fine." Sakura groaned. "You were faster, Naruto."

Naruto's frown deepened. "That doesn't sound very sincere, you know."

"What can I say?" Sakura shrugged. "I don't lie very well."

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto pouted.

Sakura giggled and started walking towards their targets. "Let's take a look at who shot most accurately."

As it turned out, all three of them hit their intended targets perfectly – including Naruto. His goal of using Wind Release: Gale Palm to make his weapons both faster and with more impact appeared to be somewhat successful. Although he didn't beat Sakura, each weapon was three inches deep in the wood and rock the weapons hit.

"I did it, you know!" Naruto called out. "I'm awesome!"

He has too much energy, Sasuke decided with a slight chuckle.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, before averting her eyes away.

"I have a brilliant idea!" Naruto exclaimed.

"No." Sasuke found himself saying.

"I think we should try sparring, and use what we just learned." Naruto finished, putting his fists on his hips.

Sakura hummed, looking up at the cloudy sky. "That's a good idea, actually. Kakashi said this kind of stuff needs to become second nature, and I think sparring would help our reaction times."

"Three-way fight?" Naruto suggested.

Sasuke was about to refuse, when Sakura spoke with a sharp tone.

"Yeah, Sasuke, three-way fight? Or are you scared I'm too fragile for that?" Sakura mocked.

I never said you were fragile… Where did she get that idea? Sasuke stared at her, who looked away. Naruto looked back and forth between them, scratching his head.

Sasuke nodded, pretending he was completely unaffected by her harshness. Honestly, he didn't think Sakura acted like this when she intended to kill him during the original timeline…

"A spar is fine." Sasuke said.

"Okay, so we are just going to ignore that?" Naruto asked.

"You have met him, right?" Sakura said, crossing her arms.

Sasuke shot her a glare. Where is this coming from?

"Okay, maybe a spar isn't such a great idea…" Naruto said, walking towards his teammates.

"Actually, I think a spar would be great." Sakura said, glaring directly at Sasuke as she pulled out a kunai.

"Why?" Sasuke challenged with a glare of his own. "You won't win."

"Keep underestimating me and I might." Sakura said, throwing two kunai directly at Sasuke.

Sasuke blocked them, but Sakura continued to push him back with a series of punches. Naruto got out of the way as Sakura created two clones, each one attacking Sasuke. Sasuke blocked one, and destroyed the other.

"Earth Release: Flying Thrown Stones!" Sakura called out her new jutsu.

The moment her hands slammed onto the ground, several sharp stones catapulted towards Sasuke. Using a kunai, Sasuke blocked each before throwing the weapon at her.

"What is this?" Sakura complained, blocking the kunai, and threw another punch. "You're not even trying!"

Sasuke blocked her punch, and pushed her back.

Sakura glared, "Sasuke, you're going too easy on me."

Want me to go harder? Sasuke thought as he punched her in the gut. Sakura gasped in pain.

Fine.

Sasuke whipped around to kick her hard in the side. Before she had time to defend herself, he punched her up high in the air, and then kicked her into a tree. The tree cracked and she started falling. Frozen in shock, Sasuke watched as she pummeled to the ground.

Naruto jumped up to catch her, casting Sasuke a glare as he landed. Sasuke went over to them – Is she alright? I didn't think I hit her that hard…

Naruto pushed him away from Sakura and stood protectively over her.

"I swear Sasuke, if anything happens to her, I'll–" Naruto threatened, his eyes resembling a fox for a moment.

Sakura began coughing awake, and both boys brought their attention back to their pink-haired teammate.

"Sakura—" Sasuke started.

"Get away from me." Sakura whispered before shoving him hard. Her eyes flashed, and Sasuke had a feeling she would choke him if given the chance.

"You're angry?" Sasuke asked, incredulous. "You asked to spar."

Sakura gave him a glare that implied he was an idiot. "It's. Not. About. The. Spar!" she said through gritted teeth.

"I – Sakura, what are you talking about?"

"Are you being serious right now?"

"Okay, guys, why don't we just cool off…" Naruto said with his hands up.

"You're being ridiculous." Sasuke told her.

"Ridiculous?" She asked, her eyes wide.

Naruto wisely stood up and backed a few feet away. A sharp pain erupted from Sasuke's chin, and he was surprised to find himself looking up at a cloud. Did she- She just punched me!

"What was that for?" Sasuke demanded, sitting back upright.

"Sasuke, you seriously don't know why I'm upset?" She demanded, standing over him.

"No!" Sasuke snarled, rising to his feet.

"You are a thick-headed, one-track-minded, arrogant jerk. You always look down on me, you constantly degrade me—" She spat out, taking a step forward till she was practically nose to nose with him.

"When did I do that?" Sasuke demanded.

"Literally every day?" Sakura said, throwing her hand out. "I'm too weak, I'm not good enough, I need you and Naruto to protect me. I'm useless according to the great Uchiha Sasuke."

"I never said that—" Sasuke tried to say, taking a step back.

"You implied it. Even when we began fighting, you didn't even try at first."

"I didn't want to hurt you!" Sasuke blurted, and took another step back.

"Neither does Naruto, but it is a spar!" Sakura said, before throwing her hands up in mock horror. "Oh no, I got a few bruises sparring against my teammate."

Sakura lowered her glare to meet Sasuke's eyes, and said, "I'll get over it. What I can't get over is how even though we are supposedly teammates, you still treat me like I'm useless."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto tried to interject.

"I thought I could get over it, but after our fight last week I realized a few things, and I couldn't stop thinking about how much it pissed me off! I realized that you have never once respected me, never once seen me as an equal – I'm not even sure you see me as a, a teammate!"

Sasuke clenched his jaw, matching her glare but remaining silent. Sakura scoffed.

"And you are a coward, a coward who runs away when things get tough."

"I am not a coward." Sasuke growled. If she knew even half of the battles he'd seen, she wouldn't even think of suggesting something so ludicrous.

Her face changed then. Her eyes softened minutely, and she put her hands out in front of her.

"Then say something." Sakura said, half imploring as she took a step forward. "Tell us what's wrong, and let us help you."

Sasuke blinked, taking a half step back. What? "Wait, are you angry at me, or do you want to help me?"

Sakura groaned loudly, clawing her hands through her hair as she took a step backwards.

"Both, you jerk! I'm angry because you don't respect me, you look down on me, and you keep pushing me and Naruto away! I'm angry because you don't let anyone help you, and you arrogantly assume you know best!"

"Are you done?" Sasuke asked, arms crossed.

"No." she said, crossing her arms. "Another thing that annoys me is that you pretend everything is fine – I am so sick of you ignoring whatever's annoying you instead of directly confronting the issue."

"What are you talking about? My issue is I need to achieve my goal and–" Sasuke started to say.

"And you ignore everything else in the process." Sakura interrupted. "Sasuke-kun, in case you've forgotten, we are still here. We," Sakura said, drawing a circle between her, Sasuke, and Naruto, with her finger, "are a team. We can help you with your goal, whatever it is."

Just like last time, you don't know what you are asking for, Sakura. You won't betray your home for me.

"No, you cannot." Sasuke told her, much softer than he intended.

Sakura stared at him; her green eyes shiny.

"What are we to you?" she asked after a moment, her hands on her hips.

Sasuke stared back at her. What are they to me? An image of their original team picture came to mind. No. They can't matter to me. I won't let them be a distraction this time.

"A means to an end." Sasuke finally said.

"Liar." She said, her eyes flashing.

Without another word, Sakura spun around and marched in the direction of Tazuna's house. He stared at her for a moment before turning around and stalked off in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, Naruto continued to stand in the same spot. He looked back and forth between where Sakura went and where Sasuke was going in confusion. Finally, he let out a groan of frustration and started to run after Sasuke.

However, Kakashi appeared, resting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto looked up at his sensei – where did Kakashi come from? – and Kakashi smiled with his eye. Naruto frowned, but nodded.

Sasuke, of course, noticed none of this. He trudged forward, smoke drifting from his mouth as he shot a fireball out. Sasuke allowed the bush to burn for a moment before stomping it out and continued forward. Pulling out his sword, Sasuke began slashing and dicing trees and bushes, ignoring the small animals that ran away from him.

Liar? Coward? Who is she calling – what does she even know? Sasuke thought as he threw shuriken in his blind spot from up high. Sasuke landed on his feet, cursing as he collected his weapons.

Sasuke pulled out his sword again.

"What do you want?" Sasuke growled as he lopped off several small branches from a young tree.

"You know, if you keep cutting like that, you might end up hurting yourself." Kakashi said, leaning against a tree with his crutches.

Sasuke glowered at his sensei, but moved onto his next target. Sasuke heard Kakashi sigh heavily behind him, but chose to ignore it in favor of burning another bush.

"You can't destroy all of your problems, Sasuke." Kakashi said.

"That's not-" Sasuke started before cutting himself off. Groaning, Sasuke put out the fire and started throwing kunai at a tree.

"You can't pretend they don't exist, either. Believe me when I say I have been down that road, and it does not end well."

"Then tell me, sensei, with your wise and sage advice, what am I supposed to do?" Sasuke barked, and threw another kunai.

"Figure out why you're angry, and then move on." Sasuke turned to shoot him a look. "Look, Sasuke, she means well. Sakura doesn't always show it in the best way, but she cares a lot."

"What, you actually believe her words affected me?" Sasuke scoffed, turning back to his tree.

"Do you normally go around chopping and burning down a forest?" Kakashi asked. He sighed, "Honestly Sasuke, I don't know why you deny something so obvious."

Sasuke reached into his weapon's pouch, and found it empty. Growling, Sasuke went to retrieve them.

"Sasuke, this problem isn't going away. They aren't going away."

Sasuke paused in grabbing a weapon, but proceeded to put the star-shaped blade back into his weapon's pouch.

"They are your teammates, and in case you haven't noticed, they have no intention of leaving you."

"They're just a means to an end." Sasuke told him.

Training with them, playing nice with them is just so I can accomplish my revenge. No more, no less.

"Means to an end…" Kakashi said softly. "Keep that in mind if and when Zabuza appears; see how you react when their lives are threatened."

Sasuke didn't answer, and continued to put the weapons back.

"You can't have it both ways, Sasuke."

Sasuke paused again, but he knew his sensei was gone. Sasuke bellowed his curse into the forest, and began practicing his swordsmanship.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, I just want to inform you that I am going to take a week hiatas so that I can continue planning out how I want this story to go and get ahead. Thanks for reading it so far! More is coming, I promise :)