Contradictions {KakashixSakura}

Naruto's return.

Three years ago...

Sasuke left to go train with Orochimaru.

Naruto left to go train with Jiraiya.

Sakura...had gotten left behind. Though a part of her wished she could get away from the Leaf and go training, the other part of her told her to suck it up considering she had officially became Tsunade's student.

Even so, without pause, she had walked to Team Seven's training ground.

She didn't expect to see anyone there. It really was just routine for her. Wake up at the crack of dawn, meet up with her teammates and wait hours for their sensei to arrive with a shitty excuse. It was when she arrived that she remembered that she was the only one left of Team Seven.

Briefly, she remembered about Kakashi.

Annoyance flared. Naruto and Sasuke had left. But what was his excuse? He never showed up.

The annoyance died down.

What would he show up for anyway? To apologize? To tell her she wasn't cut out to be a shinobi?

She slumped against one of the tree stumps.

"Sasuke...Naruto..." Her eyes closed as she uttered their names.

She could almost imagine them there with her.

Sasuke calling Naruto a dobe.

Naruto calling Sasuke a teme.

She almost drifted off into a sleepy daze.

Almost.

If Kakashi hadn't appear at that exact moment.

"Sakura?" He asked in surprise.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura yelled pointing at her teacher.

"You see, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way." Was Kakashi's automatic and cheery response, but Sakura could see that it clearly didn't reach his eye.

Her shoulders slumped as she looked down. "Sasuke and Naruto...they left."

"Yeah."

"You didn't."

"But you didn't even visit me."

Kakashi didn't respond.

"Why? And don't use any of your stupid excuses."

She half expected Kakashi to just walk away. Instead, he simply sat down next to her.

"I didn't know how to face you."

Sakura's eyes widened at the confession. But she didn't say anything.

"I couldn't do anything about Sasuke leaving. I barely got to Naruto in time. I'm a failure as a teacher. Aside from the tree climbing exercise, I didn't teach you anything."

"You taught us teamwork." Sakura quietly mumbled.

"Was that enough to stop Sasuke from leaving?"

Sakura winced at how broken Kakashi's voice sounded. She wasn't used to this side of Kakashi. 

"Why was teamwork so important to you anyway?" She curiously asked, tucking a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.

"My best friend died because I failed him. My other teammate died as well because I wasn't strong enough. My sensei died because I was weak. Somewhere down the road I realized that I was strong on my own, but that doesn't mean I could do everything on my own. If I had stopped working on my own and actually worked with my team, maybe at least two of them would be alive today."