"On this half lit day
With your crown beneath your wings
Every word just echoes
And the empty world sings

Where have you gone my feather light heart?
I never imagined you could leave
Where have you gone my sparkling wind?
Right here is the hardest place to be"

- "Where" by Lisbeth Scott

Chapter 16: Failed Mission

Suddenly, Sasuke stood before me with narrowed eyes. "What are you going on about now?"

I continued to hold my wrist out to him. "Just look."

"Katsumi, be careful," Yamato said in a warning tone.

"I know."

Sasuke grabbed my wrist almost painfully and brought it to his face. His expression darkened when he saw the name etched on my bracelet. "What is this?"

I took a deep breath before responding. "This bracelet has a twin, and they are imbued with a special jutsu that binds two people together when they willingly agree to know each other. Itachi has the other one. We are bonded."

Sasuke forcefully pushed my wrist away from him. "You willingly bonded with Itachi?" There was a dangerous glint in his eyes that made me slightly nervous.

"Well, no. He kind of tricked me into take the bracelet. And then he kidnapped me."

"For what purpose?"

"To help me break my family's curse. You know, like you promised to help me do before you left." Sasuke grunted in response. "Anyway, apparently, the leader of the Akatsuki thought it would interfere with their plans to let the portal remain open. So, he ordered Itachi to help me break the curse. A strong bond between an Uchiha and me is needed for that, as I told you before."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed further. "Don't tell me you actually bonded with him."

I nodded. "Not that he made it easy. Even with the way these bracelets allow us to feel the other's emotions, it was hard to get through to him. What you said earlier about bonds of hatred... I think that's what he originally had in mind. In fact, I'm certain of it. That's what happened the curse first occurred. Your ancestor betrayed mine by killing him, and that hatred fueled the portal."

Sasuke remained expressionless, not letting any of his thoughts show. "Are you telling me he planned to kill you?"

"Yes. I believe that was the plan. However, there was no hatred between us. We formed something stronger: a bond of a loving friendship."

Sasuke scoffed at that. "Oh, please. As if that could work."

"It did work!" Naruto said loudly. "I was there. I saw it!"

Sasuke looked at me with lifted eyebrows. "You're telling me you actually broke the curse?"

"Not quite. We had the opportunity to break it because of an act of love. My father tried to kill Itachi, but I got in the way and was injured instead."

Sasuke's expression darkened once more. "And why would you do something so idiotic?"

I took a deep breath to hold in my irritation. "Because I care about him! We have a bond, and the evidence of that bond was strong enough to break the curse for good. Except, I chose not to because one of us had to remain in my wild. Neither of us was willing to do that."

"That's funny. I thought you wanted to return to your world."

"I did at first, but... There are people here I still want to help... including you and Itachi."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "That's not going to happen. For either of us. I don't know what kind of bond you think you have with Itachi, but it's not real! He deceived you into believing he cares. Just like he deceived me."

"No! That's not true! He didn't deceive me. Or you."

A look of anger flashed across Sasuke's face. "How can you say that after what he did?"

"Look, I don't know his reasons for what he did to your clan, but I know there must be more to the story than you know. He loves you. I can tell. And he cares about me. He may have a messed up way of showing it, but I know he's trying to do what's right."

"That is preposterous! He clearly has you fooled. You will stay away from him if you know what's good for you."

I shook my head vehemently. "No, you're wrong. You don't really know him. He's good, I know it."

"Do you have any proof?"

I grit my teeth in frustration. I could not really blame him for not taking me seriously without proof. I probably would not listen to me. "No."

"Then why should I believe you? It's all lies!"

"Forget about Itachi!" Naruto said suddenly. "Just come home to the Leaf!"

Sasuke turned his cold gaze on him. "I told you, there is nothing left for me there. I'm breaking our bond."

"Then why didn't you kill me back then? You think that could break our bond, Sasuke?"

"Naruto, the reason's simple. It's not that I couldn't break the bond with you. It was just irritating to me. Obtaining power based on the method he told me."

Naruto appeared puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"It's not necessary to explain that to you. What I can say to you is, back then, you're only alive because of my passing whim." Sasuke then moved to stand in front of Sasuke. "Come to think of it, wasn't it your dream to become the Hokage? If you had the time to be chasing after me, you should've spent that time training or something. Right, Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "S-Sasuke!"

"And so this time around you'll lose your life because of my passing whim." Sasuke pulled out his sword.

Naruto glared at him. "No way can a guy who can't even save one friend become the Hokage. Isn't that right, Sasuke? Sasuke!" Sasuke attempted to stab Naruto in the back, but I stopped him by quickly pulling up a lightning shield.

And so, a battle ensued. It was clear that Sasuke had gotten stronger, but so had we. Still, the battle was difficult. Sasuke managed to knock out Naruto and Sai with one blow. Then he stabbed Yamato, who had jumped in front of Sakura to save her. I noticed Naruto stir a moment too late. As soon as he stood up, Sasuke was beside him.

I felt a sudden change in the chakra with the two of them. I felt Naruto and the Nine Tails' chakra like normal, but I also felt Sasuke's chakra mingled with them. It was almost like Sasuke was in Naruto's mind. Sasuke remained still with his eyes closed in front of Naruto, confirming my suspicions. Was this some sort of genjutsu? I hesitated, unsure what would happen to Naruto if I attack Sasuke like this. After several moments, the Nine Tails' chakra dissipated, and both Naruto and Sasuke opened their eyes.

"Sasuke," Naruto murmured.

"Looks like it's meaningless to try and convince Sasuke further than this," said Yamato. He attempted to use his wood style jutsu to trap Sasuke, but Sasuke broke out of it. My entire team was left in awe of his strength.

Naruto looked at Sasuke in frustration. "Why? Why don't you get it? Soon, Orochimaru's going to take your body! If it happens, it happens-"

"You're still a kid, Naruto," said Sasuke. "Revenge is everything to me. If I can carry out my revenge, it's no concern of mine what happens to me, or to this world. Put simply, neither I nor Orochimaru can defeat Itachi right now. But if I can obtain the power to accomplish that by giving my body to Orochimaru, then I'll give him as much of this life of mine as he wants."

"The talking's over," said Yamato. "Naruto, Katsumi, and Sakura, I didn't want to do anything rough in front of you guys but, I'm going to get serious now."

"Captain Yamato!" said Sakura.

"What do you mean, serious?" said Naruto.

"I can't just let those who left the village in the same way as Orochimaru run loose. So I'll do whatever I have to do to haul Sasuke back to the Hidden Leaf."

"The Hidden Leaf, huh?" said Sasuke. "I've had enough of you guys. It's over." He pushed his sword into the ground and then began some hand signals.

I tensed when I felt him preparing a strong jutsu. "Sasuke, wait!"

Before any of us could stop him, Orochimaru and Kabuto appeared. Orochimaru grabbed Sasuke's hand to stop him. "Don't bother with that jutsu, Sasuke."

"Let go of me," Sasuke said sharply.

"Hey-hey," said Kabuto. "Don't talk to Lord Orochimaru like that."

Sasuke ignored him and looked at Orochimaru. "I've got no reason to stop."

"You know what the Akatsuki are up to, don't you?" said Orochimaru. "We want these guys from the Hidden Leaf to take care of the Akatsuki for us. As many of them as possible. Your revenge won't turn out well if the other Akatsuki get in the way, right?"

Sasuke scoffed. "That's a pathetic reason."

"It should increase your chances of revenge, even if only by one percent. Let's go." Suddenly, all three of them disappeared in flames.

I let out a heavy sigh. "I guess that's that."

Naruto fell to his knees and began to weep. "Once again... Once again I couldn't stop him I'm totally weak..."

Feeling a rush of compassion for him, I knelt beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. I couldn't convince him of the truth."

Sakura teared up as well. "Crying-crying won't bring Sasuke back home! I'm here. I'll get stronger with you! Both of you. We've got close to six months left, right?"

"It goes without saying that two are better than three," said Sai. "Besides, I'm pretty strong myself."

I gave him a small smile. It seemed he really was sincere about changing. "Thanks. We'd be glad to have you with us." Naruto and Sakura agreed. With that, we set off back to the Leaf Village.

I stayed close to Naruto while we walked. He appeared very solemn, and I wanted to offer him some support. After awhile, I decide to speak to him tentatively. "Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?" Naruto said gruffly without looking at me.

"What did Sasuke do to you earlier? To me, it felt like... he was in your mind."

"That's because he was."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Really? He can do that?"

"I guess so. He was there in my mind where I talk to the Nine Tails. Sasuke talked to him, too."

I shook my head in amazement. "Oh, wow."

"Yeah, and the fox compared Sasuke to some guy named Madara Uchiha. Whoever he is."

I felt a chill run down my spine. That was the man who saved Obito and whose identity Obito had taken on. I quickly looked away before Naruto could suspect anything. "That's really something." This was an interesting development. What did the Nine Tailed Fox know about the real Madara?

I thought a lot on the walk home. Instead of thinking mostly about Sasuke, though, my thoughts kept drifting back to Sai. I put together everything I knew about him, the Root, and Danzo. I was glad Sai was now willing to try things my team's way, but I knew there were still many shinobi on the wrong path. The Root seemed like the culmination of everything I hated about this world. Yamato promised he would talk to Tsunade about Danzo's coup. That made me feel better, though it did not seem like enough.

So, after resting at home for a bit, I made my way to the Hokage's office to talk to her myself. "What is it, Katsumi?" she said as soon as I entered. She seemed irritated about something, but I could tell it was not aimed at me.

"I want to talk to you about Danzo," I said as I approached her desk.

Tsunade's expression darkened. "Yamato already told me about his attempted coup and the real mission he gave Sai. Don't worry, I will take care of it."

"O-Oh, okay. That's good. I just think this whole Root is a bad idea and shouldn't be tolerated."

Tsunade folded her hands on her desk. "I agree, but there is not much I can do without causing more problems."

"Well, sure, but-"

"Katsumi, you are going to have to trust me. I will deal with this when the time is right."

I let out a heavy sigh, my shoulders sagging. I did not trust many adults in this world, but I did have faith in the Hokage's intentions. "Okay, fine, I'll give it time. But about Sai..."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed slightly. "What about Sai? Do you still have a problem with him?"

I shook my head. "No, it's not that. I did have a problem with him, but I don't anymore. He realized he was wrong and wants to try being friends with my team and me. Could you please keep him on Team Kakashi? He still needs a lot of help. It's horrible what's happened to him. He can't even feel emotions properly. Danzo really messed him up."

Tsunade's expression softened, and a small smile formed on her face. "Actually, I have already assigned Sai to your team for awhile longer. He requested it himself."

I brightened at the news. "Really! That's great."

"You know what else would be great? If you spent time with Sai and helped him work on his emotions."

My eyes widened in surprise. "What? Are you sure I'm the right person to help him? I have emotional myself. I suppressed my emotions for years."

Tsunade smiled slightly. "That's why you're perfect for the job. You can empathize with him. I am sure you will be patient with him."

"I guess. I'll do my best to help."

"See that you do."

After that, I went searching for Sai. It did not take me long to find him wandering along the street. I immediately ran up to him and got in his way. "Hello, Sai," I said cheerfully.

Sai gave me a polite smile. "Hello, Katsumi. Can I help you with something?"

"No, I'm the one who wants to help you."

Sai appeared confused. "Help me? With what?"

"Help you with your emotions. You want to get closer to me and the others, right? It would help if you could express that through emotions. I used to have trouble with my own emotions, too, you know."

"Really? Then I suppose you're an expert."

I shrugged. "Maybe." Naruto was the one who had helped me. I don't know why Tsunade didn't think to give him this job.

"Well, what would you recommend? What helped you?"

"Being around my friends helped me, but also..." My mind drifted to the drawings I used to express my emotions. I knew that Sai liked to draw, too. "Art helped me. The last drawing you did in your picture book... that was art. Maybe you could do something like that."

Sai's eyes lit up a little bit. "Would a painting work?"

"You paint? Yeah, that would be great."

Sai nodded. "Then I'll do it. Would you like to watch?"

"Sure."

With that, the two of us headed to his house. I sat and watched patiently as he began a painting. Soon enough, I realized he was painting a picture of our team. I grinned when I saw the emotion he put into it. There was not a whole lot, but it was a start.

"What do you think?" Sai asked once he finished.

I smiled at him. "Beautiful. That's real art."

"Hey!" I heard Naruto call from the window. "Sai!" I walked over to the window with Sai and looked down to see Naruto and Sakura staring up at us. Naruto brightened when he saw me. "Oh, good. You're there too, Katsumi."

"We're having a meeting about our next mission!" said Sakura.

"Hurry up, man!"

"Right, I'm coming," said Sai. We glanced at each other and nodded. It was time to meet with the team!