When we got back to the village the next day, we heard a commotion coming from the hospital when we were on our way to drop off our mission report and the files I stole. We decided to take a detour to see what it was about, because it sounded rather serious, almost like a fight was happening. What we saw made my heart almost break. Naruto and Sasuke were trying to kill each other for real this time. Naruto had a rasengan out and pointed at Sasuke, while Sasuke had a chidori aimed for Naruto. What they hell are they thinking? They couldn't possibly want to kill each other, could they? Good lord. They'll be the death of me. As we got closer, I saw that Sakura was trying to jump in between them to stop them, and my heart stopped. They couldn't stop. They'd kill her. Damnit.
"Get Sakura! I'll take care of the other two!" Kakashi yelled as we jumped in to hopefully save them in time. I tackled Sakura out of the air before she could get between Naruto and Sasuke, and Kakashi grabbed them just in time and deflected them towards the water towers. My breathing came back, but anger filled me. How could they be so stupid? What the hell were they thinking.
"Sakura, what the hell happened?" I yelled, making her flinch. My anger had never been directed at her before, and I could tell she feared me. It didn't bother me though. The three of them were being idiots.
"They were fighting, and I tired to stop it." She said panicked. I shook my head.
"You should never have jumped between them! Do you know what would have happened? They would have killed you, and probably themselves, Sakura! Don't ever do that again!" I scolded her. She just nodded and then started crying.
"And you two, what the hell? Sasuke, that chidori was not meant for a friend. And Naruto, you don't use the rasengan against a comrade." Kakashi said sternly. He was nicer than I would have been, that's for sure. Both boys looked angry, and I don't doubt that they were. You'd have to be angry to try something like this.
"We weren't trying to kill each other." Naruto said angrily, looking between me and Kakashi, probably looking for validation.
"You could have fooled me." I said, venom falling in my tone.
"Hn. I don't have time for this. I'm leaving." Sasuke pulled his arm out of the water tower and walked away. I let him go. He obviously needs to cool off. There's no doubt in my mind that he's the one who started this. He's been so angry lately, and it all seems to come back to Naruto for some reason.
I put my head in my hands and tried to think of what we could do to fix this. I know that they are rivals, but this is taking it too far. Someone needs to beat some sense into them.
"Kakashi. You shouldn't have taught chidori to Sasuke. He's too filled with hate, and too immature to handle it." Jiraiya said, seemingly coming out of nowhere. I glared at him. He has a lot of freaking nerve when he taught something equally destructive to Naruto.
"I could say the same thing. Naruto should not have learned the rasengan yet. He wasn't ready." Kakashi stated, glare fixed on Jiraiya. I sighed, and decided to play mediator, despite how I felt about either of them learning those jutsus.
"It's too late to argue about it now." I said flatly. Kakashi glanced at me, most likely shocked that I was trying to stop another fight. "They already know it, and nothing we can do will change that. We have to teach them, instead." I sighed. I didn't want to do this. I actually wanted to go and punch Sasuke a few times so maybe he'd get that he's acting like an ass. But that's not very sisterly or professional, so I guess it's out of the question.
"You're right." Jiraiya said and went over to Naruto. I decided to follow him, and let Kakashi cool off a bit. He seemed more on edge than usual.
"Naruto, you understand why we're upset, right? You two can be rivals, but you can't fight like that. Sparring is one thing, but that was not sparring." I put my hand on his head like his dad used to do to me, and gave him a soft smile. "I don't know who started the fight, or what happened, but you do not use the rasengan on anything you don't want to kill. Understand?"
"Sorry, Mika-sensei." I just nodded and made my way over to Kakashi. I wasn't super worried about Naruto. He wasn't one to cause this kind of trouble normally, and I could tell that even though he was angry, he wouldn't do it again.
"I'm gonna go talk to Sasuke. Want to come, or leave him to me?" Kakashi asked, concern filling his eye. He was still on edge, and that made me nervous, but Sasuke clearly needs more than a lecture, so I'm not too worried.
"I think he needs us both this time." I said bitterly. Kakashi nodded and we made our way over to where he was. Sasuke was getting on my last nerve lately, and he needed to know about it. He's acting more reckless by the day, and I can't deal with it. He's gonna get himself killed if he continues on this path.
We found Sasuke sitting on a tree branch, and Kakashi gave me a look to tell me to let him go first, so I did. If we gang up on him, it'll only be worse, after all. Kakashi used ninja wire to tie Sasuke to the tree he was sitting on, and I just laughed. Sasuke looked taken by surprise, but he deserves it, so whatever. I jumped on the branch in front of him, and Kakashi joined me after a few seconds.
"What the hell?!" Sasuke yelled, and fought against the ninja wire. Kakashi just held it tighter so he couldn't go anywhere.
"If we didn't do this, you'd run away, right?" Kakashi said boredly. Sasuke stopped and glared daggers at us. I just looked passively at him, waiting for him to give up. "You've never been one to listen to a lecture." Sasuke glared directly at me, and I raised my eyebrow at him, signaling him to stop fighting.
"What do you want?" He spat at us. I just shook my head at him. He's acting like a child.
"Sasuke, forget about revenge." Kakashi started. I hoped that Kakashi had something up his sleeve, because I'm not sure Sasuke will ever give it up, and it breaks my heart.
"What?" Sasuke yelled, glaring at Kakashi now.
"I've seen a lot of guys like you, obsessed with revenge. It never ends well, Sasuke." Kakashi shook his head to emphasize his point. "You'll end up with nothing but emptiness."
"Shut up! What do you know?!" Sasuke yelled and started fighting again. I sighed, and just let Kakashi handle it. I have a feeling I know where it's going. "Don't act as if you know anything!" Sasuke yelled. Kakashi tightened the wire, making Sasuke wince. I just rolled my eyes. If Sasuke honestly thought he could take both of us on, or outrun us if we let him go, he was sadly mistaken.
"Calm down, Sasuke." Kakashi said with his normal bored tone at play. I could tell this was putting him on edge, though. He didn't like to do this stuff to solve a fight.
"If you want, I'll kill the most important person to you!" Sasuke screamed. I just shook my head. If only he knew. "Then you'll realize how far off you are on what you said about revenge!" He continued. I waited for Kakashi's answer, knowing it would at least shut Sasuke up for the time being.
"Well, why don't you? I wouldn't mind if you try." Kakashi said flatly, shrugging his shoulders. I laughed internally. Sasuke's eyes went wide at how nonchalant he was being. "Mika is the most important person to me. Could you really kill her, Sasuke?" Sasuke looked between us and gulped. I knew we won at that point. "All of the others are dead already. I understand better than you think." Kakashi glared at him.
"We've lived more life than you have, Sasuke. Don't think that you're the only one who has suffered." I said, calmly. I had more to say, but saw a hawk above us. We were being called for a mission. "Kashi, can you handle that?" I asked him. He nodded and handed me the ninja wire around Sasuke.
"I'll meet you at the gates." I nodded back, and he was off to get our mission.
"Sasuke, Kakashi didn't teach you chidori so you could use it against a friend, or teammate. You know why it was taught to you, and you'd do well to remember that." I tried to keep my voice even. I may be angry with him, but yelling would do nothing.
"How can you not want revenge? How are you not angry with him?" Sasuke asked pointedly, his gaze shifting down to the tree branch instead of at me.
"Itachi?" I clarified. He just nodded. "Sasuke, I am angry with him. And honestly, if he died, I'm not sure I'd be upset. But I don't seek revenge." I said slowly.
"How can you not? He took away our whole family!"
"I know that. But I don't seek revenge because I'm angry for a different reason than you are. I'm angry because I'm confused. There's a lot you don't know about what happened." Sasuke looked up at me with confusion written on his face. I sighed. He's not ready to hear that I know more than I let on. I know he's not. "There's a lot that I don't know about what happened. And I want answers. That's why I'm angry. Not because I want revenge." It was the truth. I had been over the information again and again and so much about it didn't make sense. I just couldn't put the pieces together and make them fit to tell a clear story.
"Well I do." Sasuke was glaring at me again. I sighed deeply. He's never gonna let it go at this point. Something has to get to him.
"Have I ever told you about Kakashi and I's team when we were genin?" I released the ninja wire. I was confident he wouldn't run this time. He just shook his head, waiting for a response. I nodded. "We were a five person team, instead of four. It was me, Kakashi, Obito and Rin. Minato, or the Fourth Hokage, was our sensei." I started, sadness filling me. Even after all of those years, talking about them made me unbearably sad.
"What happened to them? I only ever see Kakashi." Sasuke's eyes softened a little. Not really noticeably, but I caught it.
"Well, Obito died on a mission during the war. Kakashi was the team leader at the time, and Minato-sensei and I were on the front lines, separate from the rest. That was my first encounter with someone dying." Remembering that night was hard. It was the second worst day of my life if I'm honest. Seeing a real battlefield, and losing a family member at the same time really took a toll on me.
"What about Kakashi?" Sasuke interrupted.
"His father died before this happened. So did his mother." I started. I hoped Kakashi was okay with me sharing, but I figured he would be. "Anyways, after that, Rin was kidnapped by the Mist. They put a tailed beast in her to destroy the village, so she killed herself to protect us. I won't tell you how. It's not my story to share." I explained. I knew how much shame Kakashi still felt at Rin's death, and if he wanted Sasuke to know, he could be the one to tell him. "Her death destroyed Kakashi and I. She was one of our best friends. Then, after Minato became Hokage, he sacrificed himself to save our village when the Nine Tails attacked. He was like a second father or an older brother to me." I could feel tears start to build up in my eyes. Minato's death hit me harder than the rest did. "Then, our clan was killed, for who knows what reason." Sasuke's eyes got hard and he sent me a glare again. I rolled my eyes. "I've never sought out revenge for any of their deaths, because Kakashi is right. It will leave you empty. What will there be left if you kill Itachi? What will it change or fix? Nothing. So let it go, and learn to find happiness again." I smiled at him. I wanted him to be happy more than anything in the world. "Lean on your teammates, and on Kakashi and I. We're here to help you through your grief. Let us." I smiled again and put my hand on his head like Minato used to do, hoping it would bring him comfort. "Well, I have to meet Kakashi for our mission. Think about what I said, okay? You need to talk to people, not hold it in." He just nodded, and I left him to do that, hoping that when I got back, some of the words we told him would sink in, and he could move forward. Hopefully anyways. I hated seeing him in such a foul mood all the time.