+Naruko+

"Gaa-ra?" I choke, seeing him standing beside my hospital bed. His head shoots up. "Naruko" his voice cracks. I force a smile. "I- i lost..." He suddenly grabs my wrist "No! You won!" My eyes widen. "W-What?" "Some anbu are chasing after him. They may catch him at this rate. You did well!" I smile and close my eyes. "Gaara?" "Hmm?" "The ninetails... it broke through..." "!" "I'm sorry.. and i was the one that beat you up for letting your 1 tails out! I'm such a hypocrite..." Gaara looka at me in the eye. "How many tails?" "What?" "I heard that people with the 9-tails can release one tail at a time. How many did you release?" I look down. "Two or three.. i think." He nods. "Don't beat yourself up about it. At least it wasn't worse!" I sigh. "O-ok..."

Kakashi walks in. "How are you feeling?" I look up at him. "Ok, now." He gives me a closed-eye smile. "Good. Oh, and i brought you something!" He smiles, digging in his weapons pouch. "W-what is it?" I ask curiously, watching as he places a knife next to me. "A- a knife?" He nods. "One of your fathers. Long ago, he gave it to me as a present for making jounin. But i think you should have it." My eyes soften as i hold the three-pronged knife over my head. "Thanks"

Then something clicks. I drop the knife and scramble into a sitting position. "Did you catch Sasuke?" To my dismay, kakashi shakes his head. "No. I'm sorry Naruko." I nod glumly. Then Sakura walks in."Hey, how are you?" She asks me. I look at her. "Fine. B-but sakura-!" "I know about sasuke!" she interrupts, silencing me. "A-and, i don't blame you! You tried your best!" "I'm sorry" i whisper. Sakuras eyes fill with tears. "Me too"

There was silence in the room for a while. And while Sakura didn't blame me, she definately would never forgive me...

>So i left Konoha with Ero-sennin to grow strong.

Strong enough to protect my friends.

Strong enough to bring sasuke back.

But, most importantly....<

<Strong enough to keep my word.>