The Angel's Ambivalence [Naruto]

Done

"My skin has turned to porcelain, to ivory, to steel."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It didn't take me too long to find Kakashi-sensei and Naruto. Naruto's huge, blimp-like chakra could be sensed from miles away. I even found Sai and Yamato-sensei's chakras, and I wondered why they were all together.

The Sand Siblings didn't say anything as we ran through the snow-covered trees, and for that, I was grateful. Their silence gave me time to think about all that happened at the Gokage Summit.

I had no idea where Danzo was, or what he was planning on doing. Danzo was relentless, and I knew that he would be trying to find a way to keep his position of Hokage. All I could really do was rush to meet Kakashi-sensei and tell him what happened at the Summit.

Then there was Madara. The psychopath had declared freakin' war on the Great Nations. I might have had the attention span of a guppy, but I knew from enough history lessons that war was never a good thing. And I wasn't even allowed to participate in this war. Everyone was going to risk their lives to protect me, and I didn't want them to.

And then there was Sasuke. It was ironic how everything always seemed to lead right back to him.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Sasuke was completely pissed off at the Summit. I didn't want to believe it, but it almost seemed like all of that anger was directed at me, and I had no idea why. I mean, I hadn't seen Sasuke for weeks. What in the world had I done to make him so unbelievably angry?

I knew Madara had told him something, but I couldn't figure out what. Whatever it was, it must have been big, if it was able to drive him off the edge like that. But what was it? And why couldn't I figure it out?

I just didn't get it. It seemed as if everytime I saw Sasuke again, all I ended up doing was driving him further away from me, even though I wanted to do the exact opposite.

I thought I had been helping him. When I was with him, after Orochimaru kidnapped me, it almost seemed like he was changing. And for a split second, I saw it. I saw the old him returning, I saw the real him coming back to me.

But then Madara came along and ruined everything. He told Sasuke about Itachi's real mission, and now, he was using Sasuke's anger to control him. Madara was manipulating Sasuke the exact same way he manipulated Pain.

I couldn't help but feel as if this was entirely my fault. Maybe, if I had stayed with Sasuke, I would've been able to change him completely. Maybe, if I would've stayed, I would've been able to convince him to come back to Konoha. I would've been able to show him what Itachi really wanted.

But I hadn't stayed. I let him go, and now, I was paying the price.

"Minxie," Gaara's voice called, dragging me out of my thoughts. "They're just up ahead."

I nodded, and in a few more steps, I saw Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, Sai, and Yamato-sensei standing in front of an inn. The Sand Siblings and I jumped down, landing in front of them.