Shikamaru wasn't sure how to feel. He had been in charge of the retrieval mission, and they had failed. It was disappointment, what he was feeling, but it wasn't really in Sasuke, but himself. His duty was to ensure the mission's success, even if its success rate didn't matter, but he had failed.

Shikamaru was certainly not close to Sasuke, but he felt connected by the fact that they were both a part of Konoha 12. But now that he was gone, there was nothing about Sasuke he could relate to. Although I won't forgive him for hurting Sakura when he knew she was vulnerable, he thought darkly, then shouldered his bag at the entrance of the gates. Behind him, Naruto was supporting Chôji around the shoulder, while Kiba walked with a limp and Neji stayed quieter than usual. The Sunagakure shinobi had not walked with them to the village, because they, too, had urgent matters to attend to.

Naruto stopped, looking down. Chôji craned his back to see the blonde's face, but failed. "If I know you said it didn't matter if we didn't get him..." He paused, then looked up. His eyes were tearing up, and snot was dripping from his nose. "Then why does it hurt so much?" He clutched his chest with his free hand.

Shikamaru sighed sympathetically. "Naruto, we all know why. You and Sasuke have always had a strong friendship, something no one other than you and Sakura had. I know it sounds cruel to you...but I don't feel upset." He looked away, then shoved his hands in his pockets. In the corner of his eye, Kiba and Neji shuffled closer to the blonde.

"Right," Kiba chipped in. "Don't think that we don't care about Sasuke, Naruto. And, not to be kinda harsh, but Sakura also needs you to be there for her, right? Their dynamic was different from yours, so I bet she's also hurting but in a different way than you. She probably lied when she said she was okay. But I don't think she doubted you when you said you would bring him back; Sakura trusts you." Akamaru, beside him, licked his owner's hand, then barked in agreement.

Neji nodded wisely. "Fate will bring Sasuke back to us." He continued walking, prompting the others to start moving as well. He glanced over to Naruto, who wiped his nose with the sleeve of his jacket and then continued helping Chôji down the path.

Kotetsu and Izumo were waiting for them, their faces grim. "Make sure to report to Hokage-sama," one of them called from behind them. "And then take care of yourselves. One of you might wanna visit Sakura, though."

"Understood." Shikamaru slowed his pace, making his way to the Hokage's tower. How will Sakura react? He frowned, recalling the bits and pieces his father had mentioned to him about her. Apparently she was artificially grown, and was an experiment of Orochimaru's, which made sense for her lack of social skills. Shikamaru had also pieced together that while retrieving Tsunade, Sakura went through a major internal identity crisis, which was also expected when one's entire world is destroyed.

Shikamaru and the rest of his team climbed up the winding stairs and knocked on the door of the office. "Come in," a serious voice muttered, prompting him to open the door tiredly. Tsunade was sitting at her desk, head burrowed in her tangle of arms. She looked up, then straightened with recognition. "Welcome back, team." Her eyes read the atmosphere, and she cleared her throat. "I expect your individual mission reports in two days. Nothing late, understand? You're all dismissed, other than Shikamaru and Naruto. Thank you for your service to our village. Your paycheck will arrive is less than a week."

Kiba, Chôji, and Neji all bowed, then left the room silently, leaving the three of them alone.

"What is it, Baa-chan?" Naruto was still looking at the ground. "I'm not really in the mood, —ttebayo..."

Tsunade suddenly stood up, sending her swivel chair across the room. She slammed her palms against the table, causing papers to fly all over the room. "Cut the crap, brat. You're torn about not getting Uchiha back. So what? What do you think he's doing right now? Training, probably. He's training to get stronger. And what is it you're doing? Moping around?"

"He probably doing lots of evil things," Naruto mused sadly. "Like popping balloons and smacking ice cream from children's hands, dattebayo." He nodded solemnly to himself.

"You idiot!" Tsunade appeared in front of him and flicked his forehead. "Do you know what Sakura's been doing this past week? She's also training. Maybe not in the conventional way you would, but she's also improving. What will happen if they train, while you do nothing?! Are you saying you're going to break your promise to her? Are you going to get Sasuke back, or was that speech for nothing? Well?!" She breathed heavily, angrily, watching him. Her eyes turned towards Shikamaru, who watched the scene with interest, then flickered back to the blonde, who was groaning in pain in the ground. She sighed, then closed her eyes. "I've already made arrangements for you, Naruto. You're having special training sessions—"

I've never seen Naruto so discouraged. He usually fails and then gets right back up. Has Sasuke effected him that much? Shikamaru stared down at Naruto.

"What the hell, Baa-chan—?!"

Two knocks on the door made him pause in his fury. All three froze and turned towards the opening, until Tsunade cleared her throat and said, "Ah, I almost forgot...come in."

Two ANBU and Sakura entered the room silently; Naruto wilted even further. Tsunade sat back down in her chair and coughed awkwardly, clasping her hands together. "Hello, Sa—!"

Naruto ran over to Sakura, and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her wildly, frantically. The ANBU members beside her stiffened, teaching for their weapons until stopped by a gesture from Tsunade. "Sakura-chan! I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan!" His blue eyes were tearing up from unshed tears, threatening to spill over again. "I know how much Sasuke meant to you, dattebayo, but I still couldn't save him..." He wiped at his face, tears now streaming down his cheeks for the third time that day.

Sakura shook her head, stepped away from him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "That is alright, Ramen-boy. Next time, we can retrieve him together. Although I may be awhile, I will catch up to you, and then we can bring Sasuke back," she affirmed with a straight face.

Naruto hiccuped and wiped at his eyes hastily, then hugged one of his best friends. "Thank you, Sakura-chan. We'll definitely get him back, dattebayo!" He pulled away and gave a sad smile that attempted to light up his entire face. The blonde hiccuped again, then turned to Shikamaru and Tsunade. "We'll bring him back to Konoha!"

My heart broke having to write Naruto as heart-broken this entire chapter. I also really wanted to show that sentimental part of all the characters that you wouldn't expect, like Neji and Kiba in this chapter.

The next chapter will probably be the last...so thank you for hanging in on this journey for so long!