Sasuke's dark eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"So he's my replacement then, isn't he? He was spouting some kind of nonsense about protecting the bonds between Naruto and me... one more pansy for the group, quite the fit for sure."
Kohana narrowed her eyes, clenching her fists. Somehow, she wasn't surprised that Sasuke's superiority complex worsened over his time of absence. There was the truth that he was much stronger and more capable now, judging from the explosion, but that in itself didn't give him the right to underestimate them all. No matter how strong, he was outnumbered if he'd ever choose to fight them. Not to mention Naruto, Sakura, Yamato and Sai (including her) were individually pretty strong.
Despite all of that, there was something strange about Sasuke's features during the moment that he told her they wouldn't stand a chance. He didn't look like he was thinking of a strategy; he only looked ready for a battle—that was all and nothing deeper than that.
It wouldn't come off as a surprise either if Sasuke wasn't even thinking anything important of them at all.
Half of her prayed that she was wrong, yet half of her also wanted to be right.
"It is true," Sai began, his tantō still raised, "my top-secret mission was indeed the assassination of Sasuke... but those orders don't matter anymore. Now I want to think and act for myself... because of Naruto-kun, I feel like I might be able to remember something—remember how I used to feel. Something which I can't help but feel was very important to me..."
Sai trailed off after that, and Kohana hoped that Naruto didn't see the face Sasuke appeared to be making at the moment.
"I may not know you that well.... But there's a reason why Naruto-kun, Sakura-san and Kohana-san chase so passionately after you..." Kohana involuntarily flinched—and she'd hoped that no one caught that.
"In order to prevent their bonds with you from breaking... in order to keep them intact, they're doing everything they can.
"I still don't have a very good understanding of it myself, but you, Sasuke-kun, should know why..."
Kohana found her jaw dropping slightly at the way Sasuke's eyes slightly widened, his eyes taking on a new level of apathy as he said, "Sure, I did know... and that's why I severed them.
"I have other bonds I carry: Fraternal bonds forged through hate."
Closing her eyes, Kohana lowered her head and inhaled deeply through her nose. Sasuke was so close to getting on her nerves, and she didn't even know why.
Her mouth closed, and opened again. She'd repeated the action a few times as Sasuke continued to serve them his response.
"Having bonds causes one to lose focus, weakening their strongest wish, their greatest desire."
Naruto's usually bright eyes seemed to have been disheartened greatly, and Kohana finally received evidence that the blow of Sasuke's departure hit Naruto and Sakura just as much, if not more, than it hit her.
