Prologue – The End of the Beginning
It was late into the night when Naruto stood up from his bed with determination. Gazing around his apartment one last time, his eyes landed on the picture frame that held the picture of Team 7. He walked over and picked it up, staring silently at the image within it for a few minutes. He remembered that day; they were up to their usual antics- mainly bickering between themselves as he and Sasuke glared their rivalry, with Kakashi playing peace-maker as Sakura beamed up at the camera. It was their normal. It was fun. It was something that Naruto had come to deeply value before one devastating argument had ripped it all away.
"We're not friends! Friendship is a useless bond that will only hinder my goal. You mean nothing to me…" With a wince, Naruto closed his mind to the memory, and let his eyes harden. Whatever nostalgia he had for the photo vanished, and he chucked it to the floor, not bothering to look where it landed.
He hefted his pack over his shoulder, and strode out, leaving the door unlocked. He no longer had any feelings towards the place that once housed him for 12 years- so he could care less if it got ransacked. He had a new home in mind.
If Sasuke wanted to throw their bond away for revenge, then Naruto could do the same for power.
XxX
The moon shone down brightly, casting light shadows on the path leading out of the Village. Cicadas chirped, and leaves blew strongly in the wind as a single set of footsteps rang out, steadily approaching a single bench, where a silent figure sat waiting. It stood, and Naruto narrowed his eyes at seeing Sakura, noting the barely concealed sadness hidden away in her gaze.
"Sakura-chan? What are you doing here so late at night? It's dangerous, you know," he said casually, forcing a cheerful smile as she trotted up to meet him. He wanted to be done with conversation quickly- because while he knew that people will soon find out that he had left, he had hoped that he would be long gone by the time that happened.
"In order to leave this village, you have to take this road," Sakura began. And just like that, Naruto's smile dropped. It seems like he wouldn't be able to avoid the confrontation, after all. Sakura saw his sudden serious expression, and she wanted to be sick. It was true; he really was going to… "Naruto, please… don't do this. You don't need to go to Orichimaru," she begged. Her hands clenched. "Sasuke's an idiot." At her abrupt statement, Naruto startled. Sakura almost never insulted their other, dark-haired teammate. He was shocked into silence.
She continued. "I mean, he's always like that!" She gave a trembling laugh," So we don't need him. Who cares if he accepts us or not? As long as we have each other, we don't need anyone else." Sakura stepped towards him, and finally Naruto unfroze. He couldn't let her go on; he realized Sakura loved Sasuke, and while her words made feel a rush of warmth, he knew that they were untrue. She shouldn't have to force herself to lie. At least, not for him.
Besides…
"Sakura… this isn't just about Sasuke," he admitted quietly, "There are other things going on in my life that you just wouldn't understand. I'm-"
"The Nine-Tails host, I know." She interrupted, grabbing hold of his hand. For the second time that night, Naruto felt his eyes widen in blatant shock. Upon seeing the blonde-haired boy's confusion, Sakura smiled gently and explained: "Ino and I figured it out a short time ago. But Naruto… " She sobered, looking at him in desperation." You've got to know that this doesn't change anything, right? Even knowing about the Kyūbi, it doesn't make a difference with me. You're still Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's knuckle-head ninja, and that's what I love most about you!" She finished brightly, hoping he would take her speech to heart. His head was lowered, and his gaze shadowed, and she couldn't see his reaction.
So when Naruto interlocked their fingers and pulled her closer with a small smile, she thought nothing of it. Until his friendly expression morphed into a small frown, and he began to look troubled.
"What do you want from me, Sakura?" Naruto spoke, frustrated," Saying all this now… I've already confessed my love to you countless time, and you've never taken any notice of me, nor have you treated me any differently. In fact, at times it's like you've barely tolerated me. So what the hell do you want from me," he almost growled, his grip on Sakura's hand tightening painfully. She gritted her teeth, then faced him dead-on.
"I love you." She swallowed nervously at his sharp inhale. "And it's not the same as the love I thought I felt for Sasuke, either. It's real this time. It's true that at the beginning I never felt this way, but as I watched you and come to know you and understand you better, I really came to love you."
"You're funny, honest, kind and caring and you always put others before yourself. And you never hesitate to put yourself in harm's way if it means protecting something precious to you..." Sakura paused. As she confessed, Naruto's grip on her hand did not loosen, and grew ever tighter. She was beginning to lose all sensation in her fingers and knew that they would bruise. But she didn't stop. "I've realised it now; that I love all of that and more about you, and if you left, I-I don't know what I'd do. Because without you... there would be a hole in my heart that nothing could ever fill. Even with our friends and my parents, without you Naruto, I'd feel alone." With her feelings now out in the open, she waited anxiously for his reaction. She didn't have to wait long.
Barely two seconds passed before Naruto dropped her hands and pulled her into a tight embrace, burying his face in the crook of her neck and smiling when he felt her arms come up to hold him.
"Thank you, Sakura…" he said softly, pulling back slightly to caress her face.
"Naruto…" She beamed up at him, clearly thinking she'd gotten through to him as they gazed into each other's eyes. So it must have come as a shock to her when she felt his hand that had been wrapped around her hit the point between her neck and shoulder, causing her to lose consciousness.
"I'm sorry," Naruto said, catching her before she could hit the ground. He carried her bridal-style over to the single stone bench and laid her down gently, before shrugging off his backpack and removing his jacket to place it over her.
"I have to do this, Sakura. I can't stay here with people who lie to me, and treat me like I'm an inhuman monster; I have to find a place where I can just be me." He murmured, tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear, and staring at her face for what may be the last time. "I love you too, but I have to do this… for me." With that, he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on her temple before picking his backpack up and continuing on his journey.
He never looked back.
XxX
Morning came way too early in Sasuke's not-so-humble opinion. He'd been awake most of the night mulling over what Kakashi-Sensei had said to him the day before, and trying to figure out how to apologize to his teammates. All the things he'd said to Naruto and Sakura, he honestly didn't mean any of it. He cared about both of them deeply-he'd just been upset about seeing Itachi again after so many years. He had no right to take it out on them.
With a loud sigh Sasuke pushed his quilt covers off and sat up, stretching. He happened to glance over at the photo of team 7 that sat on his night stand and saw Sakura's smiling face, Naruto's glare-pout combo, Kakashi-Sensei's vaguely serene smile, and his usual scowl. He picked up the picture frame and ran his hand over the still figures in it.
'What is wrong with me? Why do I keep trying to push everyone away… would it really be that bad to have people in my life who actually care about me? People, who I also care about and want to protect,' he thought. Yeah, he really had to apologize. He wanted them to know his true feelings; that now he would never hesitate to call them his friends and how he would always put them first... He no longer wanted revenge. Kakashi made him see it just wasn't worth it; at least, not in the long run. True strength was overcoming his hate, not giving in to it. It wasn't weakness to value friendship and love, and now that he realised that, he wanted correct his horrible mistake and show Naruto he cared, after all. Just as Sasuke was giving himself an inner pep talk he heard someone knock on his door. Huffing to himself, he placed the picture frame back and got up to answer the door.
"What do you want?" Sasuke said grumpily, as he opened the door to see Shikamaru Nara standing on his porch, his eyes frosting slightly as they landed on Sasuke
"Hello to you too," Shikamaru drawled sarcastically, "Get dressed. The Hokage wants you in her office now." Giving one of his usual sounds of distain, he headed back towards his room to quickly change. "I thought you were promoted to Chunnin, not messenger boy, Nara. Does the Hokage not have anything better for you to do then collect people for her?" Sasuke taunted, followed through his house by the other boy.
"Out of curiosity, do you have it in you to be nice to anyone for even a moment? I don't know how your team puts up with your attitude." Shikamaru bit back, his glare intensifying. Sasuke had no response. Shikamaru didn't know how close he hit home with that statement even if it just was what he'd been thinking before.
"Sorry... I'll be out in a minute. Just wait here." His scowl replaced with confusion, Shikamaru stood outside what he assumed was Sasuke's bedroom and waited for him to get dressed.
When the door opened, Sasuke stepped out and Shikamaru kicked off the wall where he'd been leaning. "So why dose the Hokage want me?" Sasuke asked, locking up his house
"Naruto." Was all Shikamaru said as he began making his way back out of the Uchiha compound.
Sasuke's gut twisted nervously as he caught up to Shikamaru and walked beside him. It will be fine, he told himself, Naruto's probably just been his usual self and caused trouble again.
That had to be all, right?
XxX
As Sasuke walked into the Hokage's office just behind Shikamaru, the first thing he noticed aside from the small group of his classmates was Sakura standing off to the side sobbing into a familiar Orange jacket, "Sakura?" Sasuke called out quietly, running over to her.
She tensed at his voice, turning to face him. The grief-stricken expression shifted quickly to rage, and faster than the eye could follow, she punched Sasuke in the face, sending him impacting into the wall on the other side of the room. It instantly cracked, forming a Sasuke-shaped crater. The pink haired girl stalked over to him as he attempted to get up, and with one more right-cross, he was straight back down again. She threw herself on top of him, punching and slapping him as he disorientedly tried to block her attacks.
"It's your fault!" She screamed, her face twisted in anger. The others in the room simply gawked in shock, unable to uncomprehend what they were seeing. Sakura had never so much as looked at Sasuke with anything other than admiration- so to witness her strike him with such violence was a humbling experience to all. It was a grim reminder to never underestimate her, "It's all your fault Naruto's gone..!"
At the mention of Naruto's name, Shikamaru and Choji snapped of their daze, rushing over to break them apart, "Alright, come on Sakura, let him up… we don't have time for this if were gonna save Naruto" Choji lightly admonished, lifting the thrashing girl off Sasuke. Shikamaru immediately began to do what he could to heal the boy's face with his mediocre medical ninjutsu skills.
Once he could sit up on his own again Sasuke pushed away from Shikamaru and looked to Tsunade, "What happened to Naruto? Why does he need saving and what does it have to do with me?" Tsunade was looked contemplatively at the young Uchiha, thinking about how to word her answer.
With a loud sigh Tsunade began to explain the situation to the group gathered in her office, "Last night Naruto left the village; from what he said to Sakura before leaving we believe he's gone to Orochimaru." She looked around gravely, taking in the shock on everyone's faces. The Naruto they all knew would never just abandon their Village. The guy was always like a ball of sunshine; nothing anyone ever said or did could ever dim his resolve, or his smile.
"Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Neji and Sasuke! The five of you are assigned the task of bringing Naruto home! That is why I've had you gathered here today. Shikamaru will be leading this Mission- you have half an hour to gather anything you may need for this mission. Dismissed." Four of the six young ninja bowed respectfully to Tsunade before quickly heading out of the Hokage's office to prepare for their mission, leaving only Sasuke and Sakura alone with the Hokage.
Sasuke looked over to Sakura again, he wanted to say something… something to comfort her or give her hope the same way Naruto usually did when she was upset. He didn't like to admit it, even to himself, but he hated seeing his teammate distressed. "Sakura I-" Sasuke began, but cut himself off at the look of absolute loathing in Sakura's eyes.
"Sasuke. If you don't fix this and bring Naruto home to us... I'll never forgive you!" She said harshly, pushing past him to stride out the door.
XxX
Half an hour later the mismatched team were standing just within the boundaries of the Village gate with Sakura and Lee waiting for Shikamaru to let them know when to leave, just when Kiba was getting ready to start yelling Shikamaru looked up at his team, "Right I'm not very good with words of motivation or anything like that so I'm just gonna say one thing… Naruto is my friend and he is a member of the Hidden Leaf Village, more than that he's our comrade. At one time or another Naruto has been there for everyone here, whether he was standing by your side in battle watching your back or he was fighting to make you see what's right, ether way he never gave up! It's time that we show him what that means to us, that he's important to us!"
Shikamaru then proceeded to explain his strategy to the group, though Sasuke's attention was split between listening and watching Sakura as she stood close by Lee, gazing at the small group with rapt attention.
"Right, time to go," Shikamaru commanded, heading through the gates with his team following behind. Sasuke made to follow, but paused for a moment, glancing back at Sakura with determination in his dark eyes "Sakura, please don't worry… I'm going to do everything in my power to bring Naruto home. So just have faith in me one last time, I'll bet my life on that promise!" He gave her a rare smile and a thumbs up.
Once Sasuke had caught up with the others Sakura let out the breath she's been holding in since Sasuke had said her name "Don't worry Sakura-chan! Sasuke-kun will definitely succeed! He promised it with a good guy pose, so he can't possible fail!" Lee said firmly.
"Yeah… Thanks Lee" Sakura whispered and gave Lee a sad smile.