"Sasuke..." I whispered, my dominant emotion shock. From the look of Naruto's expression, he felt the same as me.

I watched wordlessly as Sasuke fell, unable to say anything. Unable to do anything. Just watch.

Before I even realised what was going on, red, burning chakra exploded out of Naruto, as he cradled Sasuke in his arms.

"What chakra is that...?" I whispered, shocked, but unable to focus.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!" Naruto roared, looking at one of the mirrors. I assumed that he was talking to whoever had done this to Sasuke. I was just surprised that I was able to form coherent thoughts.

Naruto crashed through the mirrors with amazing speed and strength, punching the masked nin from before out of them. But I wasn't focused on that.

The ring of mirrors fell and melted through the cracks of the woodwork of the bridge, and I stumbled towards Sasuke's limp form. I fell to my knees beside him, dazed, my limbs unable to support me anymore.

Blood seeped from numerous gashes all over his skin, reminiscent of someone else from a long ago memory. Pain gnawed at the edges of the hole that I had thought had long since disappeared, and I wrapped my arms tightly around my chest.

"You can't be dead... you can't!" I mumbled, "Why did you... you can't die!"

But I wasn't seeing Sasuke anymore.

I was seeing someone much older, with ashy blonde hair and stubble on his tanned face, wearing the clothes of a carpenter, soaked in blood.

I was seeing my Father.

I curled in on myself on the floor, grief tearing through me with rusty garden shears. This couldn't be happening to me again! Not now! Not to Sasuke!

I could have been in that position for hours, for all I noticed. I was too lost in my world of pain to see or hear anything, only vaguely sensing another person fall down on the body beside me.

"I didn't save him..." I mumbled brokenly, "It's my fault... if I'd gotten there sooner..."

I sat up, seeing Sakura's sobbing form and feeling ten times worse from guilt. Why couldn't I save him?

Sakura suddenly sat up, glaring at me ferociously, fire blazing in her teary eyes. "Too right it's your fault!! Sasuke-kun is dead because you were too slow!! If you had been here quickly instead of taking your time, this wouldn't have happened!"

I glared right back at her, "I didn't see you helping them fight! All you did was stand there, hoping someone else would save you, just like you always do! Well, sometimes you have to save yourself, Sakura!!"

She snarled at me, "At least I was here!! I was protecting Tazuna-san! But you just stood there helplessly, like YOU always do!! It should be you laying there, not Sasuke-kun!!"

I could feel tears pricking my eyes at her words. I hated her, but she was right, and her harsh words hurt. It should be me that died, not Sasuke. He didn't deserve it, but I... if I hadn't hesitated back there at Tazuna's, then I might have got here in time to save him.

'You baka, he's not dead.' Izanami said, just as Sasuke groaned.

"Shut up, Sakura..." he said irritably, rubbing his head. Had the situation been different, this would have made me laugh. Sakura ignored his words.

"Sasuke-kun!!" she exclaimed happily, leaping on him.

"Ow, f***!" Sasuke hissed, rather out of character for him, but I let it pass, since he'd just nearly died.

I immediately grasped his forearm to help him up as he started to stand, snarling wordlessly as he tried to push me away. His stubborn Uchiha pride would get him hurt, damnit! He seemed to realise that I wasn't going anywhere, so didn't protest as I pulled his arm over my shoulder and wrapped mine securely around his waist.

"Sachi, I can walk."

"It's either this or I carry you." I snapped, to both rebuke his words and prevent any future complaint. The statement did it's job; the walk back to Tazuna's was silent, aside from the grunt from Kakashi when he collapsed. Tazuna carried him back.

"Sachi..."

I looked up slightly at the almost-grunt from Sasuke. "Mm?"

"...Are you okay..?" my eyes widened, and I was unable to respond for a moment. An angered glare worked onto my face, making Sasuke look slightly worried for his welfare as well as my own.

"Am I okay?! You got skewered by a couple thousand needles, most of which are still stuck in your flesh I might add, and you're asking if I'm okay?!" I vented, "You guys almost died!! What the fuck does it matter if I'm okay?!"

Sasuke seemed annoyed now, "Jeez, sorry I asked!"

I just huffed wordlessly, and the walk continued in stony silence.

Once we got back to the house, I helped Sasuke through to our shared room and leaned him against the doorframe. I levelled a harsh glare on him, "Don't. Move."

I then went and searched out bandages and antiseptic wipes, and then went back to the room. Someone had to fix everyone up, and seeming as I was the only one of the two relatively unscathed people that knew first aid it would have to be me. And I felt I kind of owed it to them, so was opposed to the idea of Sakura doing this anyway.

Once back in the room, I made Sasuke stand in the centre, closing the door behind us. He looked wary of me, but I ignored him and started pulling what was left of the senbon from his body. The blood had dried now, so it wasn't a problem, and the senbon weren't in deep. The only ones that were were those that were near his neck, and I had to remove those carefully so as not to upset his nervous system.

I heard him exhale in a low hiss as I yanked the first out without warning, and sighed, the some of the anger turning back into guilt again. "Sorry..."

Sasuke glanced down at me. "You seem... angry."

I smirked in dark humour. "Do I?"

He frowned, jerking slightly as I removed another senbon, gentler than the first. "Why?"

It seemed to be more of a demand than a question, and I straightened up, avoiding his gaze for a moment before meeting it with a stern look. I folded my arms.

"Shirt. Shorts. Off." I said, each word punctuated carefully. My irritation seemed to prevent me from getting embarassed; too bad I couldn't say the same for Sasuke. He went bright red in the face.

"What?! No way!!" he stammered, clearly flustered. I smirked slightly; this was semi-amusing.

"I have to bandage you, and your clothes will get in the way." I said, "If a certified nurse was to do this she would ask you to do the same."

"B-but-"

"You take them off yourself or I undress you like you are a four year old. Your choice." Sasuke scowled at me, looking between me and the door, seemingly debating his chances of escaping before I caught him. And, seeing his condition, even I could tell that they weren't great.

Grumbling to himself, Sasuke removed the requested items of clothing, leaving him in just a pair of grey boxers... with teddy bears on them... um...

Sasuke looked even more embarrassed now. I was just glad that he wasn't a briefs kind of guy. That would just be awkward...

"You can sit down if you want, I just have to clean the cuts first so they don't get infected, then bandage them." forget the briefs, this was awkward enough! "This may sting a little."

After a long (and painful, for both of us) process, Sasuke was bandaged and dressed again. I stood and started to leave the room, only to be stopped by a mumble.

"Er... thanks, Sachi.." Sasuke muttered, scratching his cheek and avoiding my gaze. I blinked at him, then smiled.

"No problem." I said, and he frowned at me.

"Why were you so angry at me earlier?" I stared at him.

"I wasn't angry at you!" how could he think that?! Okay, so maybe I vented on him a little.. great, now I feel even more guilty! I frowned, staying silent for a moment before looking up at him, "I was angry at myself. It was my fault that all of this happened, even after I had promised that I would be the one protecting you this time... if you really had died, I..."

I trailed off, not knowing what more to say. But I hadn't cried earlier, and I certainly wasn't going to cry now.

I jerked as a hand laid itself carefully on my shoulder. I let my head rise a little, to meet the dark frown of the Uchiha.

"It's not your fault." he said firmly, "So you were a little afraid. It's no big deal, some people wouldn't be able to handle half of the stuff you do on a daily basis, so don't get down about it. It's annoying."

I just stared at him, my thoughts jumbled in an incoherent mess in my head. I finally managed to form words, "But-"

"You did fine. Just be yourself, and other skills will come in time." when did Sasuke become so wise? But his words didn't exact make my situation any different.

"That doesn't matter if being myself gets my comrades killed! Anyone else could have helped, but I just stood at the sidelines like a scared rabbit, just like before!" I protested in frustration thoughtlessly, though luckily he didn't ask about the last part, "Even Sakura managed to help somewhat!"

"That's true, Sakura did help. A little." he admitted, but he was unfased, "But Sakura has her faults too. A-and..." he paused, turning slightly red and seeming to change his mind about something, "I-I like you just the way you are. And I know that the Dobe feels the same way." he tacked the last part on the end, probably to try and dispel some of the awkwardness.

An unsure smile managed to find it's way onto his face, and my throat hitched. That single, split-second smile was breath-takingly beautiful, and it left an odd fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach, making my skin tingle. I stared for a moment, speechless, before lapsing back into old habits.

"You, Mr Uchiha, have just killed us all for the third time."

- - -

I skipped happily away from the dinner table, reaching the midway point between the two bedrooms belonging to us Genin. Kakashi wasn't yet recovered enough to walk, so we were to stay another day in the Wave country, and then make the long journey back to Konoha tomorrow.

"Saaaachi-chaaaan!!" I turned around just in time to be dive-bombed by an over-excited blonde.

"Wha-?! Narutoooo, get ooofffff!!!" I could feel the ache of protest in my spine from having the excess weight on top of me.

Thankfully, Naruto quickly complied to my request (which was more of a command really), and stood up, offering me his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet, while I gently pressed a few fingers against my back and winced.

"Itaiii..." I whined, and Naruto smiled guiltily.

"Gomen, Sachi-chan..." I smiled at him reassuringly.

"It's not your fault, Naruto." It was that fucking Sakura. She knew my spine was fucked up, yet still she threw me into a wall. Fucking whore. "And anyway, I'm alright. It's just a little-" I cut off as I stretched out my back by curving backwards with my hands on my waist, my joints popping, "Sore."

"Oh." Naruto frowned for a moment, before grinning, "Ano, ano!! Sachi-chan!! D'you want to room with me tonight?!"

I thought about it. I hadn't really spent much time with Naruto for a few days, so it might be nice to do so tonight. But that meant making Sasuke room with Sakura...

A slow grin spread over my face. Revenge!! I beamed at Naruto. "Okay! I'll get my things!"

Naruto nodded, clearly bubbling over with excitement, "Okay!!"

I went into mine and Sasuke's room and started collecting my stuff; Sasuke was sat on his futon with his eyes closed, clearly meditating. He opened one eye when I entered, then the other one in surprise. His eyes then both narrowed suspiciously.

"What are you doing?" he asked, and I grinned.

"I'm rooming with Naruto tonight!" I told him, "Sakura'll be in here soon." his eyes widened, a mix of fear and irritation.

"You wouldn't!"

I just grinned more at that, "Oh, but I already have."

I picked up the last of my clothes and carried them through to Naruto's room, then went through and exchanged Sakura's futon for mine (I didn't really want to sleep on the one that she'd been sleeping on, I'm a bit funny about stuff like that). Sasuke was glaring at me unhappily, and I just flashed a devious smile at him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she won't rape you." I said, then paused in the doorway, "Too much..."

"I hate you." He said, and I just winked.

"You know you love me really, Mr Teddy bear boxers." at this, he flushed bright red.

"Don't call me that!!" he fumed, and I just shut the door behind me, giggling.

I went back to my new room and flopped down on my futon, exchanging grins with Naruto. I was about to speak, when Sakura walked in.

She glared at me, "What are you doing in here?"

I glared back at her, "This is my room now. You're sharing with Sasuke."

At this, she squealed with delight and ran out. I could hear the door slam closed.

"And... body slam!" I narrated, hearing Sasuke yell out and knowing that my timing was perfect. Naruto snickered, and I grinned back at him. "Sasuke's gonna get a good night sleep tonight... or at least, as good as he can in the bathroom."

"Serves that teme right!" Naruto cheered, and I grinned at him, laughing a little.

I looked around the room for a bit; it was virtually the same as my previous room, only...

"Crap!! No bathroom!!" this room didn't have the small, seperate bathroom that the other had. The bathroom that I always went inside to have a shower and get changed...

Fortunately, I had had a shower the moment I was done cleaning Sasuke up, since I had a lot of his blood on me and I couldn't stand it, so I didn't need a shower. However, I did need to get changed into me pyjama's. Wonderful.

"Turn around, Naruto!" I ordered. He blinked at me as I stood up and searched out my pyjama's.

"Wha?"

"I'm not undressing in front of you so turn around!!" at this he blushed bright red and quickly turned away, covering his face with his hands.

I quickly stood and started to undress, then heard a giggle from Naruto and whipped my head around. He quickly turned his head away, so I dressed as fast as I could.

"You can turn around again, Naruto." he turned, an innocent look on his face. I placed my hands on my hips and glared a him. "You peeked!!"

"I didn't I swear!!" he yelled, ducking and covering his head with his arms to protect it. He stayed like that for a few seconds, before straightening up, and blinking at me. "...You aren't going to hit me?"

I smiled, and said in a light tone, "Whatever gave you that idea?" my smile dropped and I glared, "I'm going to pummel you, pervert!!"

Naruto squealed and ran away, straight out of the room. I growled. "Naruto get your punkass back here!!"

I then proceeded to chase after him.

The chase lasted about twenty minutes before I finally caught up, but by that point I was too worn out from running around to actually hit him much. So I just hit him over the head once before grabbing his arm and dragging him back to our room, sending a smile at Tsunami and Inari as we passed them in the hallway. Tsunami smiled back and cooed, saying nothing about Naruto's knocked out state- for once being cute worked in my favour!- and Inari just stood there, staring at us, before shaking his head and walking away. Wise kid.

I lumped the unconscious Naruto onto his futon, then flopped down on my own. It was late, and I wanted nothing more than to just sleep...

"Sachi-chan!" I shot up, "Don't go to sleep yet!! I have an idea, 'ttebayo!!"

I blinked at Naruto sleepily, "What is it?"

"Well..." he leaned in and whispered his plan in my ear. I grinned, immediately awake. I had a feeling that it would work perfectly....

I rose my hands in front of my face. "Transform!"

I became a boy/ girl with long black hair, dark eyes, and a blue kimono shirt thing. That's right, I was HAKU!! At least, that's what Naruto said his name was. Mwahaha!!!

Naruto grinned at me with a thumbs up "You look just like him!"

I nodded, "Now you!"

Naruto did the same as me, "Transform!"

He turned to look like me- for some reason he was strangely opposed to me being me... and that's kind of confusing....

We nodded to each other, then ran out of our room with a crash. I got Naruto in a chokehold.

"Ah, Sasuke, Forehead, help!!" Damn, that guy really knew my language.

"I would prefer not to kill you, don't make me." and I was an awesome Haku, if I do say so myself.

The door crashed open, revealing an angered Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura's eyes widened.

"You?!" she yelled, "But I thought you died-"

"Are you joking?" I cut her off abruptly. "You can't kill me. I AM INVINCIBLE!! PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT, BITCH!!"

Sasuke's worried look disippated, replaced by a risen eyebrow. "Really? Invincible. Really." I shrugged.

"S'true. Plus, this cute girl here," I gestured to Naruto, or 'me', "Told me that you wear teddy bear boxers. That's lame dude."

Sasuke turned more red by the second, "There is no way that YOU are that Haku!!"

"Well, how would you know?!" I retorted, "I could be on crack right now, couldn't I?!"

Sasuke glared at me, then at Naruto, "And I know that that's you, Dobe. Sachi's eyes are a darker red than that, and her hair is parted to the left, not in the middle."

I blinked, then cringed, "You stare at me that much?! I didn't even know that!! That's creepy, man!!!" I exclaimed, turning back into myself with a 'poof'. Naruto did the same, and he was staring at Sasuke. Well, glaring.

I sighed dejectedly. "Naruto, the jig's up. Let's go to bed."

Naruto glared a while longer, before nodding. I linked arms with him and we turned to go into our room, "Night Forehead, night Mr Teddy bear boxers!!"

I could practically hear the two grinding their teeth as I shut the door behind us with a snicker.

Later on, Naruto and I just lay in our futons, talking about random crap. I was laying on my back with my arms spread out, staring at the ceiling.

"Hey, Sachi-chan." I looked over at Naruto, keeping my head facing the ceiling.

"Yeah?" he had his gaze on the white ceiling also.

"Is your dream still to become a great kunoichi like your mother?" I blinked; I had said that over two months ago, I was surprised that he could remember it.

"Well, that's part of it. It's changed a little since then." Naruto rolled onto his front and rested his chin on his hands, blue eyes trained on me, clearly awaiting an explanation.

I smiled absently, "After seeing Inari, Tsunami-san and Tazuna-jiji together, I decided; someday I want to have a family of my own back in the Leaf, living in a nice house with a few kids, and a husband to love me... that's the life I want. That's my new dream."

I looked over to see Naruto staring at me avidly. I laughed and scratched my cheek. "That's weird, isn't it?"

Naruto shook his head rapidly, "No, no! If that's what you want, dattebayo! But... why is it that you want children?"

I looked at Naruto for a moment, then folded my arms behind my head to use them as a pillow of sorts. "I just... I want someone to protect, to be there for, a young child that I can teach the skills needed for life in general, someone I can take through the steps of the first love, growing up, becoming a ninja, if that's what they want. Someone that, when they grow up, I can look on proudly and say, 'I helped create that wonderful person. I helped raise them to be the person they are today.'. So that there will be a child growing up who can say that they had a parent to look after them, that they didn't grow up alone." I met Naruto's gaze, "You of all people must know where I'm coming from."

Naruto looked down and nodded, "Un.."

Deciding to try brighten the tense atmosphere, I asked, "What about you? Still bent on becoming Hokage and terrorising the village?"

Naruto glared at me playfully, "Oh ha ha, very funny." then he grinned and rolled back onto his back, punching the air a few times and kicking his legs, "Hell yeah! I'm definitely going to be Hokage someday, 'ttebayo!!" then he glanced at me, "But your dream's cool too."

I just smiled at him, it was clear that he didn't think much of my dream. But then, he was Naruto. Family was probably the last thing on his mind, especially since his brain could probably only think about one thing at a time. He has an incredibly short attention span, and the things that are on his mind probably consist one hundred percent of ramen and being Hokage. But I wonder..

"But Naruto... haven't you ever thought, if-" I cut off at a scowl and immediately corrected myself, "-when you finally do become Hokage, what then? What comes after that? Or will you just stick with that for the rest of your life and never move forward to greater things?"

Naruto stopped, silent. "I never really thought about that..." he hummed a while as he thought about it, then rocked to sit up straight with a grin, "Okay, once I become Hokage I will think of everyone as my family and protect them all, especially you, Sachi-chan!!"

His grin was earnest as he flashed it at me, and I couldn't help but blush a little at his words as I smiled in return.

"Well, we better get some sleep now, Naruto. We've got a long journey tomorrow, we'll need our energy." Naruto nodded in agreement, and we both laid back down in our futons- the lights were already shut off and had been for our whole conversation- and I pulled my covers up around my shoulders.

"Night Naruto." I yawned.

"Night, Sachi-chan!" Naruto sounded much more awake than me. I rolled onto my side, twisting some of my hair around my pinkie as I shut my eyes, slowly drifting into unconsciousness.

- - -

I sat up with a gasp, in a cold sweat. Sasuke's fake death had dredged up a lot of long since buried memories that now haunted my dreams, and I had awoken several hours early. I scowled at the floor, breathing heavily as I pushed the dream from my mind, then laid back down in my futon, glaring at the ceiling. Father... Mother...

I yawned and closed my eyes, only for images of blood and death to flash in front of them. They snapped open again, and I sighed, settling into my futon for a long wait.

After a few hours, I heard stirrings from the other room, so got up and started my morning routine. Well, part of it. The only thing I really could do was get dressed- thankfully, Naruto was still asleep, so I didn't have to worry about that.

I then went to my bag and got my hairbrush, then went to the window. I jerked it a few times, and it finally grated open, so I planted one foot firmly on the window sill and pulled myself up. I smiled to myself; I could already hear the birds, competing to try and sing their song the loudest.

I pulled my body completely out of the window then pulled myself up onto the roof; it was a one storey building so it wasn't far. And if I didn't look down, my fear wouldn't kick in.

I hung down from the roof and pulled the window shut again with much effort, then pushed myself back onto the wood roof. I quickly walked into the middle and sat down, folding my legs, and pulled my hairbrush out of my pocket and started to brush through the long length. While I was sitting like this, my dusty blonde hair actually touched the ground, and then some. It'll start getting in the way when I'm training, soon. Maybe I should get it cut...

"Your hair is really long..."

"No shit, Sherlock. What of it?"

"It's... I... like it..."

I blushed a bit at the memory, coming to a decision as I continued brushing. No... I wouldn't cut it.

After a few minutes, I put my brush down, and got my hitai-ate from my pocket, folding out the large piece of material. It gave a quiet clatter as I placed it down on the roof in front of me.

To think, it would be this easy to betray the village right now. A silly, irrelevant thought to be having, but still true. I could just leave my headband here and run; by the time they realised I would be long gone.

I thought about the 'they' part of that sentence.

Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei... and then everyone back home... all these people who I had formed bonds with... it was too much to forsake. I found it difficult to think of something that would make leaving all that worth it. Not even to hunt down the bastard that killed my Mother and made my life go so wrong.

But... if I thought about it... if that hadn't happened, if Kaa-chan hadn't died, then my life wouldn't have taken this course. Tou-san wouldn't have... and I wouldn't be in the Leaf village. I would still be in Mizugakure, with my Father the carpenter and my Mother, perhaps just a kunoichi, perhaps Mizukage. Would I really be willing to trade all of this for just two people?

I shook my head with a shaky laugh. This was silly. Thinking about this right now! It didn't matter what I did, it wouldn't bring them back. So there was no point tormenting myself with it now.

And besides, I had a family now. The Yamanakas, Kiba-kun, Squad Seven... they were my family. I didn't need anyone else.

I folded my headband into a triangle shape like a bandana and tied it around my head, so it was like a hat type thing. It's hard to explain!

I narrowed my eyes, "You know one thing I dislike?" I said aloud, "Lurkers."

Sasuke sighed and pulled himself the rest of the way up onto the roof.

"I'm beginning to think you have some weird stalker obsession with me." I said, and he glared at me and blushed. I noticed that he does that a lot.

"Kakashi told me to come and get you, we're about to leave." I nodded, eyeing him, then grinned.

"You look terrible." I laughed; his hair was sticking up in random directions (even more so than usual) and he had dark bags under his eyes. He shuddered.

"Don't ever speak of it. I never want to remember that ever again." he said darkly, and I cocked my head on one side.

"Why? What happened?"

Sasuke glared at the floor, "Let's just say, sleeping on a floor that is not even a metre wide is not comfortable."

I laughed- obviously my guess yesterday about him having to sleep in the bathroom to get away from Sakura had proven true.

He glared at me. "It's. not. funny."

"Yes it is." I replied, then stood, sticking my hands in my pockets. My right hand brushed across something cold, the shiver it sent over my skin making me stop still.

I pulled the object out; it was that amulet that I had found in the river after the fight with those two mist ninja over a week ago (see chapter six), I must have forgotten about it. Shrugging, I slipped it back into my pocket, then quickly did a run and jump past Sasuke and down to the floor so that I wouldn't see how far I was from the ground.

I froze in my tracks as something white caught my eye. I bent down on the grass on my hands and knees, and lowered my chin so that the grass tickled my nose.

I glared at the dandelion irritably. How dare it be such a bright yellow! I wish I could be yellow. And green. And be able to photosynthesise... DICTIONARY WORD!! Ino, you owe me fifteen Yen!! And I feel like we've had this conversation before...

With a growl, I ripped the dandelion out of the ground and shoved it in my mouth.

Sachi: 1, Dandelion: 0.

Hahahaaa.

I stood up, and looked to see Sasuke, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura all staring at me weirdly.

"Oh, hi guys!! When did you all get here?" I asked innocently. They all just continued to stare.

"Did you just... never mind. Let's go!" Kakashi said, and we all turned and started to walk. I just shrugged.

After about three minutes, my head started to feel weird. Spots appeared in my vision, along with sparkly butterflies, floating wigs and rainbow colours that were bright enough to make my head hurt. I let out a groan.

Dandelion: 1, Sachi: 1.

You win this round, Dandelion....

- - -

Well, there ya have it! Extra long chapter to make up for not having posted in CEEEEENTURIESSSS!!

So whadda'ya think? Good? Crap?

Comment, fan, vote, share, drink milk with your Krave cereal!! Unless you're lactose intolerant. Then don't. You might die!!

As you can probably tell, I am not Lactose intolerant and therefore do not know the possible side effects. Meh.

MILK.

Moo... Kakashi!!

Naruto abridged is awesome...

It's pretty obvious that I don't know what to say right now, isn't it?.