A Hole in One's Heart [Kakashi Hatake]

Chapter 66: When Did All of You Forsake Yourselves?

I'm super sad that I wasn't able to include the scene where Sai talks about how he's angry at Sasuke for how's he's hurt Naruto and Sakura. It's probably one of my favorite scenes from the entire show, but I just couldn't fit it into my plot... That aside, this chapter covers a huge chunk of story, enjoy!

--------------------------

     I was running with Sakura, Kiba, Akamaru, Lee, and Sai and wondering how the hell I had gotten myself into this mess. Oh yeah, that's right, when Sai came and told me the Konoha Eleven had decided to take out Sasuke on their own, the two of us agreed to tag along to keep them from getting themselves killed. Sasuke defeated Itachi, Deidara, and Orochimaru all on his own; the chunin didn't stand a chance. It seemed that Sai and I were the only ones who understood that. I had tried to talk some sense into them a couple of times, but they were deaf to reason. So here I was, running to the Land of Iron in my long off-white cloak with its two thick red stripes flapping against my legs.

     "Sakura," I called out to the pink head in front of me, hoping that this time I might have some success, "So just how do you plan on convincing Naruto to let you guys attempt to take out Sasuke?"

     She sighed, "Just trust me, I have a plan."

     "I do trust you, and you should know that you're like family to me, but Naruto is unnaturally stubborn." I rubbed my temples, "He promised you that he would get Sasuke back so that's what he is going to try and do no matter what."

     "Yes and that's the problem. I have pushed all of my problems onto Naruto for all these years without even realizing it. Correcting this is my burden to bear."

     "I'm not doubting your right to taking action; I'm questioning your methods. How on earth are you going to get that stubborn fool to agree with this? He traveled out to meet the Raikage just to plead Sasuke's case, and you think that some words are going to change his mind? Naruto has never been one for deciding things verbally, for him, actions speak far louder." Sai shot me an encouraging look because he seemed to think that I might be making some headway. "Sakura-"

     "We know what we're doing," Kiba cut me off. "It's not like we don't understand how important this is, but we can't let other villages take care of our responsibilities."

     Lee nodded, "We must go take care of this because Sasuke was our friend and because we wish to avoid conflict with the Village Hidden in the Clouds."

     Sakura turned back to glare at me, "Are you with us or not, Ana?"

     'No, because you three are going on a suicide mission since you could never defeat Sasuke with his current ability level.' "I already told you, I'm here to keep you guys safe and that's what I plan on doing."

     Kiba snorted, "No you're just coming because we're going to be meeting up with Kakashi-sensei."

     "Don't doubt my motives, Kiba, but I will admit that you're not entirely wrong." I know that was stupid to say, but I was glad for the change of topic. The last thing that I needed was for this group of angry teens to realize that I was coming to prevent them from fighting Sasuke and then deciding that it was in their best interests to lose me. Not that they could lose me; there's no way in hell that any of them could even remotely hide their chakra signatures from me.

     Kiba wolf-whistled, "Ana and Kakashi sittin' in a tree K-I-S-"

     I slapped him upside the head, "How old are we?"

     "Sixteen."

     I put my face in my hands, "That was rhetorical." This was just sad, 'Why on earth do I spend so much time with people ten years younger than me?'