CHAPTER ONE

Almost silently, Kakashi slid open the door to the hospital room. It was impossible to make those things completely silent. They were designed to drag across the floor.

He walked into the center of the room and looked at his two students. They hadn't been here for more than a few hours and the nurses had yet to move them to separate rooms.

Naruto and Sasuke had already been treated for their injuries, but they were both still unconscious. Now they just needed to rest. The only real difference was that Naruto looked almost peaceful, like he was sleeping. Sasuke, however, looked pale and sick. This didn't surprise him too much. Because of the Nine-Tailed Fox's power, Naruto would heal much quicker than his raven-haired team mate.

Kakashi sighed. Sasuke hadn't been the same since his recent encounter with Itachi. His obsession with power was almost as bad as his obsession with revenge. If you thought about it, it was a never-ending circle.

With one last look he left the room, closing the door behind him. He didn't bother trying to shut the door quietly. Those two wouldn't wake. However, the first thing he saw once out of the room was Sakura, also on her way to visit her teammates.

"Ka-"

"Shh..." He brought a finger to his lips. It wasn't the place to talk. Not here. He led her outside and the two of them turned and looked back at the hospital.

Sakura looked worried. "Are they...?"

"They're going to be fine," he assured her.

Her face brightened to something resembling hope. "That's good."

He wasn't surprised she couldn't manage happiness. It was still a pretty grim situation. He was back now, but what Sasuke had done was still very serious.

"Sakura, do you know where Tsunade is?"

The question seemed to wake her up. "Um, yes. At least I think so. She was going to go check on Neji the last time I spoke to her."

"When?"

"Just a few minutes ago."

He nodded. From what he'd heard, Neji was also in a pretty grave state. Even Tsunade wouldn't be able to finish with him that quickly.

Kakashi glanced back at Sakura as he headed back into the hospital. With all the drama going on with Sasuke and Naruto nobody had taken the time to check up on their remaining team mate.

That's what usually happened though. So many people fell through the cracks because there was something bigger overshadowing them.

...

Kakashi found her coming out of Neji's room, just as Sakura had claimed. She was sighing and running a hand through her hair when she looked up at him and groaned, the picture of an overworked, hassled woman finally beginning to look her age.

"There can't possibly be another problem," said Tsunade. Ah, so she must've thought he'd come as the bearer of bad news.

"Not that I know of," Kakashi answered lightly.

"Then what do you want?" Possibility of further disaster averted, she now had little time to deal with formalities.

"If you have time, I'd like to discuss what's going to happen to Sasuke."

"Well, I don't have time. And quite frankly, I haven't given much thought to it yet. I'm too busy fixing the damage he caused."

Kakashi nodded. "How is everyone?"

She sighed again. "Naruto and Sasuke are going to be fine. Choji should be good too... after a couple of weeks. He doesn't have the stamina or recovery power that his team mates do, unfortunately." She glanced back at the door behind her. "We're keeping an eye on Neji, but he's better than he would be if he'd stayed out there any longer. Shikamaru's fine. A bit shaken up about his first mission as a Chunin if anything. I don't think anybody realized just how serious this would be until it happened."

"And Kiba?"

"To be honest, I haven't checked on him yet. They were all in bad condition and I just didn't have the time to get to everybody. I've been training Sakura lately. She took a look at him. I haven't seen her handiwork yet, but the nurses taking care of him say she didn't do half bad. That's where I'm off to actually. We'll talk later."

And that was that. Kakashi watched the Hokage head off down the hallway.

...

Ino looked up, surprised when she saw a blob of pink flash by the corner of her eye. Sakura never came into the flower shop if she could help it.

Seeing that she'd been noticed, Sakura nodded to the blond. "Ino," she greeted a bit stiffly.

"What are you doing?" she asked in return.

"I've decided to pick out some flowers for Sasuke and Naruto. They're all back, in case you haven't heard."

Ino was even more surprised now. "Really? Is everyone okay?"

"I think so. But they're only allowing in selected visitors right now."

Ino smirked out of habit. "Why are you buying Sasuke flowers if you won't even be allowed in to see him?"

Sakura must've been even more high-strung than she'd anticipated because she whirled on her and said, "You are horrible! You are horrible, and I hope you die alone!" Tears just beginning to slide out of the corners of her eyes, Sakura hurried out of the store.

Ino rushed after her. "Sakura, wait!"

To her surprise she did wait. She stopped in the middle of the street and the people walking by wound their way around her.

Ino came up behind her and put her hand on her shoulder. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I wanted to talk to you, actually, I just... had no idea where to start."

The blonde led her friend over to a bench facing the shop and they sat down. Sakura kept her hand in her lap and her eyes on her hands. The tears, however, had stopped falling.

"I really am sorry. I know this may sound weird, but... I've gotten over Sasuke."

Astonished, Sakura looked up a bit suspiciously. "What gave you this sudden change of heart, Ino?"

"Do you even have to ask? Look, Sakura, I know this sounds really hypocritical, but maybe he isn't that great. I mean... I've been thinking lately. He's kind of a jerk. He doesn't respect himself so he can't respect anyone else..." Ino's voice fell to a whisper. "If Shikamaru and the rest of them had failed... Sakura, do you realize what he could have done?"

She noticed it was 'what he could've done', not 'what could've happened.' Sakura almost stood, ready to leave.

But Ino must've sensed her thoughts because she hurried on. "Look, I'm sorry. But what I really meant to say was... can't we be friends again?"

This shocked Sakura so much that she wouldn't have been able to stand up and storm away if she'd wanted to.

"What's in it for you, Ino?" she asked coldly.

"Sakura, I don't know how many times I have to say it, but I'm sorry. I've... opened my eyes lately."

Sakura softened, realizing how hostile she must've sounded. "I'm sorry, too. I do sort of miss having you around as a friend. And I'm sorry about the whole you dieing alone thing. I didn't mean it. I'm sure you and Kiba will have a nice, long life together."

Ino's eyes widened and she blushed. "H-how did you...?"

Sakura smiled. "I've seen him hanging around the shop lately."

Ino smiled too. "Yeah. I was thinking about going to see him, but... if they're not allowing visitors... well... Tenten must be a nervous wreck."

Sakura laughed. "I'll bet Hinata's worse."

"Yeah! I'll bet she fainted just hearing that Naruto got back alive!"

The two just giggled for a minute, thinking about their love struck friends. Then they could only laugh harder when they realized at the same time that the two of them weren't any better.

But soon, the two of them quieted. It really just wasn't the day for laughter.

Sakura looked over at her former ex-friend. She couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of Ino and Kiba being a good couple before. They were both confident, outgoing, and headstrong. Ino, however, had lapsed back into deep silence.

"What's wrong?"

"Sakura, I..."

Ino's voice was unusually quiet. "I don't mean to be overstepping my boundaries, and I don't want to tell you how to live your life, but... I honestly think you should give up your infatuation with Sasuke too."

Sakura grew cold again.

"I mean," she hurried on, "it isn't just not helping you. You've been through so much because of him (And me too, sorry!) and he doesn't even care!"

Sakura stood. "You're right, Ino. You are overstepping your boundaries."

Ino stood too. "Please, Sakura! Don't be foolish. He treats you like crap!"

Sakura turned on her. "Has it ever occurred to you that he needs me? Everyone's going to turn on him now! Sasuke has been alone long enough." And, finally, Sakura found the courage to storm off.

...Later that night...

Kakashi got home as the sun was setting. He couldn't have been in his apartment for more than a second when a bird swooped into his kitchen window. He scratched it under the chin and took the note out of its beak. Freed of its burden, the bird flew away.

Kakashi was met with symbols when he opened the letter. It was an urgent message from the Hokage. And considering she'd gone to the trouble of putting it in code, it must've been important.

He was there in under a minute of course. Tsunade seemed very stressed. She was pacing in front of her desk.

"What's going on?"

"You won't believe this," she said in a sense of dark humor. "This day just keeps getting better."

"But what happened?" Kakashi figured it must be something really big for her to call him out on an urgent message.

"We've got Itachi in custody."

And that ends the first chapter. Hooray for cliffhangers!

R&R please!

Revised as of November 7, 2012.