Tomorrow Blossom (Sasuke Uchiha) - Book Two - I Don't Love You

Chapter Seven- Not Really A Scolding

It was mid-afternoon, sunny, and I was very, very hot.

It was the final day before my deadline- I had to show Ihaku a successful ninjutsu this evening. I had almost got the hang of Kage Bunshin, but was having trouble dividing my chakra to create them. So far, I could only make two.

"You're doing great, Sachi-chan, 'ttebayo!" Naruto exclaimed, and I grimaced. It still felt weird to be taught by Naruto, even if he had gotten considerably more... ah... manly, since we were in Squad seven together. If anything, that made it worse- his body had grown more built, and was rather distracting, since we were both wearing the bear minimum due to the heat.

"I just... I can't seem to split my chakra into smaller than thirds..." I panted as my clones dissipated, "It feels like something's holding onto it."

Of course, that 'something' was more of a 'someone', since it was both myself and Izanami holding onto my chakra. Through self-preservation more than anything. It was against my instincts to relinquish my strength.

"Sachi-chan, focus. Just let go of your chakra. Nothing's going to go wrong, I promise." I stared at my blue eyed friend for a long moment, then breathed a deep sigh, forming the hand signs. I felt for my chakra, dividing it internally into thirds, then forcing it into a fourth...

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" I exclaimed, pushing three of the chakra parts out- those three being much, much smaller than the part that remained inside of myself.

To my utter relief, this time, three clones formed, each of them looking at me curiously. The third was shaky and barely formed, but still there and tangible, so I was happy. I sat down on the grass, catching my breath, and Naruto flopped down beside me.

"Hey, Sachi-chan, have you visited Kakashi-sensei yet?" he asked, and I rolled onto my back, folding my arms behind my head.

"I haven't had time to, have I? Training every spare minute, being antagonised by that bastard Ihaku..." I ran my hand back through my hair in irritation, "As soon as I have time to, I will." I paused, then looked at Naruto curiously, "Why's he in the hospital, anyway?"

"Gaara was kidnapped a while back-"

"What?! Why?! Is he alright?!" I exclaimed, bolting upright, and the blonde waved his hands.

"Yeah, yeah, he's fine- if anything he's better than he was before, 'ttebayo. The Akatsuki took him and extracted his bijuu, and then Granny Chiyo revived him with this jutsu-" he waved his hands around in a spherical shape, seemingly trying to paint me a mental picture. I cocked my head to one side.

"What? So he's a zombie now?" I asked, and he shook his head rapidly.

"No, no! He's normal again, just... bijuu-less. And hey, did'ja know he's the Kazekage now?" if I had been drinking something, I would have spat it out just then.

"What?!" I exclaimed, and Naruto nodded in a businesslike fashion.

"Yup, apparently it happened while you and I were away."

"Really...? Wow..." I laughed, "Gaara sure made a life for himself! I bet he's got loads of fans now, huh!"

"Yuh-huh, almost as many as Sasuke used to have-" he stopped abruptly, and noticed I had stopped still. My hand dug into the grass, tearing up soil with my fingernails. He frowned, "Why d'you always react like this when anyone mentions Sasuke, 'ttebayo? You get all quiet and blank-faced, then angry."

"I'm not angry!" I snapped, and he just rose his eyebrows. I sighed. Silence followed, Naruto opting to simply watch me until I spoke again. I pulled my knees up to my chin, glaring at the ground. "I'm going to kill him, Naruto."

The blonde choked on air, "W-what?!" he spluttered, "But why would you want to do that?!"

"I hate him, Naruto. I hate him with all I have, and I will keep on hating him until I get the satisfaction of ending him with my own hands." I said icily, "He ruined our team, broke his ties with us and left, abandoning his village when we needed him most. That kind of despicable person will only cause more suffering- and more than that, I want to see him suffer. I can't move on without terminating the past first."

Naruto stared at me wide-eyed for a long time, and I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around myself. When he spoke, he sounded sad.

"You still love him, don't you?" I flared up at that.

"What?! How could you even suggest that I- after all he's done- that I could possibly still feel something for that bastard?!" I hissed, and he reached out, grasping a strand of my now knee- length white locks.

"Because you never cut your hair." he said, and my eyes widened even more, "Sasuke likes girls with long hair, and especially liked yours- I heard him tell you on that mission in the Land of Waves." I frowned at the distant memory, somewhat angry that Naruto was saying these things, "So you never cut it." he looked me in the eyes, and smiled softly, "I'm right, aren't I?"

I snatched my hair from his grip and piled it up into a bun on my head. "I keep it long because I like it long." I spat, venomous. "Sasuke Uchiha will one day disappear from this planet, and I'll be there to dance on his grave when he does." I stood up, looking away from Naruto as I started out of the clearing, "I'm going to visit Kakashi-sensei. Are you coming?"

"Ah- yeah." he said, scrambling to his feet. I breathed out a gusty sigh, hoping to calm my erratic heart. It was dangerous for him to say such things, and I was deeply bothered by it. But, I still couldn't bear the thought of cutting my hair, no matter what baka-Naruto said about it.

We walked in silence to the hospital, and it wasn't until we were being lead to Kakashi's room by a nurse that I realised we digressed in the conversation before I found out exactly why Sensei was in there in the first place. "Ne, Naruto, why exactly is Kakashi-sensei in here?"

"Didn't I just tell you that, 'ttebayo?" he mumbled, squinting at me, and I shook my head.

"Iie, we started talking about Gaara and got distracted." I answered, and he scratched his head.

"Oh yeah! Sensei overused his new sharingan- like he did on the Land of Waves mission, only worse. He can barely move now." I smirked slightly in humour, remembering how Kakashi had collapsed last time and I had got to sit on his back while he did pushups at the end of his recovery. Good times.

"I see." I replied, as the Nurse opened a door and stopped.

"He's in here." she said, and I nodded. Naruto and I thanked her as we passed, and the door closed behind us.

"Well, this is a surprise." Kakashi spoke, sitting cross-legged on the bed in the corner. "Naruto and..." his apathetic expression became genuinely surprised as he realised that I was there. I gave an awkward smile and half wave, "Sachiko?"

"Hai, Sensei..." I mumbled, scratching my cheek in embarrassment. He lapsed back into his usual lazy look.

"Well, you've grown up a lot, haven't you? And your hair...." he trailed off, and I looked away, but could feel his disapproval, "Speaking of which, I need to speak with you about that when we're done here."

Naruto glanced between us in confusion- which I ignored- and I merely nodded, feeling miserable and ashamed. "...Hai, Sensei..." I repeated, not really knowing what else to say.

"Knock knock." I voice said from outside, and all of us looked up in time to see Yamato-taichou and that perverted Jiraiya enter the room (I know that this isn't how it goes, but I'm changing it up a bit- mostly because I can't remember the exact order in the anime).

"Jiraiya-sama... and Tenzou?" Naruto and I were both confused by this- did Kakashi mean Yamato? He had to, but why would he get his name wrong?

"Ah, Kakashi-senpai, I go by Yamato now." Taichou said, and Kakashi blinked.

"Eh...?" He shook his head, "Never mind that- Naruto, Sachiko, how did it go with Sasuke?"

I flinched, and Naruto frowned, "How did you know we ran into Sasuke..?"

"Tsunade-sama informed me earlier today." Sensei glanced at me, and I turned my gaze to the window, unable to decipher the jumbled mess of emotions inside me.

"He's gotten so much stronger, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto clenched his fist, frowning at it, before looking up at the hospitalised Jounin. "I need to train hard if I want to catch up to him. I could barely even hit him when we fought."

There was a pause, and Kakashi finally spoke up, "Naruto, I'm almost healed. I'll train you."

"Wha- really?!" the effect of the words was instant- Naruto, in my eyes, appeared to behave much like an overexcited puppy. "What kind of training, dattebayo? Is it a new jutsu? Huh?"

"Eh, you're as excitable as ever..." Sensei sighed, "I'll explain that when we get to it. Ten- I mean, Yamato will also be joining us for this training."

"Eh? Me?" Yamato pointed at himself, and I sweatdropped. Was Kakashi just deciding these things by himself?

However, the silverhead's face was grave, "Yes, your special technique" something about the way he said it told me it entailed something more than what was obvious, "Will be very important in this type of training, since it will exert a massive amount of chakra. I want the two of you to meet me at four PM sharp tomorrow afternoon."

There were some other bits and pieces spoken- I didn't really listen to them since the conversation didn't really involve me and I felt somehow intrusive listening to it- but then I realised I was the only one left in the room with Kakashi and couldn't help but jump. He was watching me, seeming vaguely amused at just how far my mind had wandered, before his expression became serious. Once again, I bit my lip- I had a feeling I knew what was coming.

He patted the mattress beside him, and I nervously sat, seeing no option other than to do as I was told. He sighed deeply.

"I don't really know what to say... I'm not good at this kind of thing." I couldn't look at my Sensei- I was too afraid of the disappointment and shame I would see on his face. "Still, I should think you've had enough lectures from Tsunade-sama to suffice. I'm not going to babble on at you about how what you did was wrong- you know that already, don't you?"

I finally brought myself to meet his gaze, my fingers kneading the mattress anxiously. I was surprised to find no disappointment or even anger in his eyes- he was simply apathetic as usual. "Of course I know that. I'm never going to not know that, and I'm never going to stop berating myself for it."

"So you released her, I know that much. But why?" and there it was. The one question that I hadn't been able to answer when Tsunade asked.

"I... I know this sounds crazy, but-" I glanced at Kakashi again, and his somewhat tired expression was strangely comforting, so I continued. I remembered the event clear as day, "I heard this voice- this little girl's voice, on the way back from Suna, and it told me to go back to my home in Kirigakure, and I did so without thinking. I went inside my old house and I guess it triggered an old memory, because it showed me that my Mother wasn't KIA like I thought she was." I took a deep breath, slightly surprised by how calm I sounded, but mostly just holding the tears back as I rested my head in my hands, "I killed her. I lost control of Izanami and I killed her. My own Mother." I choked slightly on the final sentence, thoroughly abhorrent of myself, "And all those years I didn't even know! Who knows, maybe I killed my Dad too."

A few tears finally leaked out, and I gritted my teeth as though that would pull them back in. I was startled as a large hand rested atop my head in a strangely comforting gesture, and stared up through my bangs, only to meet Kakashi's still blank yet oddly gentle gaze.

It had been a very long time since I'd really hugged anyone, but I did so then, the urge to just to strong to ignore. It was a weak action and made me feel like I hadn't really grown up at all- I still needed to depend on contact with other people to be happy- but I needed a hug in that moment and I needed one from an adult who would accept me and was the closest thing to a Father I'd had since my real one died. So I flung myself at him, crying like I hadn't cried in so long, and he patted my head awkwardly, but didn't seem to mind all that much. I'd be willing to bet that even Kakashi-sensei likes a hug from time to time.

"S-Sensei?" I muffled into his shirt, still crying hard, but feeling awkward. I really was an idiot. "I missed you while I was gone."

"Yeah, I missed you too, Sachiko." he sighed, sort of stroking my hair, "My life wasn't quite the same without a mentally disabled red-eyed girl hassling me."

I sniffled, "Say what you like, I know you love me really, Kakashi-sensei."

- - -

For some reason that last part makes me giggle X3 ah, only Sachi. Still, I think it's cute. Kakashi and Sachi, that is. They aren't quite like Father and Daughter, but almost. I know it's sort of predictable, but I couldn't resist~

Welp, comment and vote m'dears! :D