"Well. What's happened happened, and I know Sasuke doesn't blame you for any of it. So perhaps you shouldn't blame yourself, either."

He takes another bite out of his food then, looking away for a moment, as if to give her some privacy to collect herself.

"In an ideal world, you wouldn't lash out in anger when your teammate is hurt in an attack." There's a little smile for her then. "There's nothing wrong with feeling anger. It doesn't make you weak; it makes you human. The only solution to making yourself a little more efficient in that department, then, I suppose, is to practice equanimity. And I'll tell you now, you won't get it right away. Trust me, I've tried, too. I still haven't got it down pat."

He was the only one with a Mangekyou sharingan yet, and he carried old wounds that still weighed heavily upon him. Anger, disappointment, sorrow, despair... none of those were foreign to him.

He didn't want her to think she was alone in this.

"You said you've been thinking about things. How would you have done it differently, if you had the chance to revisit the experience?"