- Dead Embers -
"What would it take for things to be quiet, quiet like the snow?"
- Louder Than Thunder, The Devil Wears Prada
Every word that had come out of her mouth was a lie. Her love - no, her 'love' - had never existed in the first place. Now she was gone, running off to god-knows-where to find 'love'…whatever that was to her. He didn't fully understand the concept, but he knew her 'love' wasn't a love at all.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my writing.
Note: This story is a bit AU, set after Sakura's confession, but assuming this had taken place three years later (I.e., the Rookie Nine are eighteen).
- One -
"I…love you, Naruto."
"Quit lying to yourself. I hate people who lie to themselves."
The words ran through his mind again, remembering the scene as he often did these days. It was at that moment that Uzumaki Naruto had his epiphany; as kids, he had loved Sakura, she had loved Sasuke, and Sasuke had wanted nothing but revenge.
Sasuke had been the smartest of them all. Twelve-year-olds didn't have a clue what love was.
To be honest, Naruto had figured out that - years later - he still didn't know what love was. All he had ever felt for Sakura was infatuation, admiration.
Naruto lingered on one of Konohagakure's walls, having come back not for Sakura, but for himself. He needed more time before he went off to find Sasuke; a better plan, if you would.
He also needed time to put away his thoughts.
It had been quite a while since Sakura's "confession", but the words still echoed in his head and stung his heart. True, he had never loved Sakura, but he'd like her a hell of a lot.
Sakura had lied to him. That was what hit home the most.
Haruno Sakura was one of those girls you looked at and let your gaze linger for a moment, mostly out of curiosity. To be blatantly honest, she was nothing too special, and of course you wouldn't see anything special in her just by looking at her. Unlike her friend and rival Yamanaka Ino, Sakura came off as nothing more than ordinary.
Beneath the average looks and equally average personality, Sakura had some redeeming and exceptional qualities. Despite her personal drama, she was a loyal friend and teammate, had quite a bit of force behind her blows, and was a skilled medic-nin. It was also common knowledge that she had been lucky enough to be trained by the Hokage herself.
Nonetheless, most men didn't take the time to look past that, which was most likely the explanation for Sakura's lacking love life. True, Naruto hadn't much of one either, but he devoted most of his time to training, missions, and eating.
Girls weren't really his main priority, even at eighteen.
Somewhere beneath the I'm-not-focused-on-girls-right-now attitude he had, Naruto always had a soft spot for his former teammate. At least, up until recently.
Now, Sakura was gone. Most of the village acknowledged her lack of presence as her being 'on a mission', but truthfully it was a cover up, and very few knew the truth. Very few being Tsunade, Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, and Naruto. Everyone else (including Ino) believed Sakura had gone on a mission with two other lesser-known medic nins.
It concerned Naruto that she was gone, but some part of him was okay with it. Sakura's bullshit made things between them feel like a bad breakup (or what he assumed one would feel like), and Naruto was glad to have his space apart from the cherry blossom.
Naruto sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck in a half-assed attempt to relieve the tension in his muscles.
Now both his former teammates were gone. What would be next, Kakashi leaving?
Who was he kidding? The village couldn't get rid of Hatake Kakashi if they wanted to.
Naruto pushed himself up to stand on the wall, gazing out over the village. He really had no desire to go socialize - if you would call it that -, but he had to meet up with the four knowledgeable others to discuss the issue of Sakura's disappearance.
Why was that girl such a pain in the ass?
"I want the four of you to go search for her, the same way you have been doing for Sasuke," Tsunade instructed, addressing the four males standing before her. "Hatake, I'm leaving you in charge. You know Sakura just as well as I do, and when you're head isn't in the gutter you're a rather intelligent individual."
"Thank you, I suppose…" Kakashi hesitantly responded to the backhanded compliment.
"Do you have any idea where she is?" Yamato inquired, locking eyes with the Hokage. It was an innocent question, but came out almost as a challenge, leaving Tsunade with pursed lips and narrowed eyes.
"I have my suspicions, yes, and Hatake knows exactly where I figure you may find her. I expect the three of you to go along without question."
Naruto groaned, running his fingers through his hair.
"This is such a pain in the ass. Who's idea was it to form a team of fuck-ups?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him.
"You do realize you weren't exactly the most prestigious shinobi in the village back then, don't you, Naruto? Your teammates balanced out the skill level of your team; basically, you were the runt of the litter."
Naruto grumbled under his breath, unhappy to have his complaint turned around on him, pointing out his hypocrisy in front of the others. No doubt Sai would throw that in his face later.
Tsunade turned her attention from the bitching boy back to the rest of the group.
"I want you to leave at dawn; the sooner you get out, the better the chance you have of catching up with her. I shouldn't have delayed this as much as I did, but I figured Sakura would have returned on her own by now…human error. Not that any technology could have predicted this."
Yamato nodded his agreement to the Hokage's statement, and turned to Kakashi, looking for further instruction. When the silver-haired man said nothing, Tsunade took over again.
"You're dismissed. Good luck."
Naruto rummaged around his apartment, tossing things carelessly in the direction of his bed. He was lacking the normal passion he had for his missions, annoyed that not one, but two of his teammates were dumb enough to take off abruptly.
Naruto found chasing Sasuke to be a more fruitful cause than chasing Sakura; the pink-haired kunoichi had no reason to take off. There wasn't anyone outside the village that she would need to seek out, unless she was being the stubborn wench she could occasionally be and hoped to bring Sasuke back before Naruto was able to.
Yeah, right. Because one kunoichi could overpower Uchiha Sasuke. What a joke.
This mission would suck, he could already tell. Naruto had not set one foot out the door to his apartment (it wasn't even morning yet) and he was dreading this mission like none other.
At least Sasuke had a reason for leaving; some of the things he had done after taking off didn't make much sense to Naruto, like joining up with Orochimaru or teaming up with Otogakure. Either way, Sasuke had finally reached his ultimate goal in slaying his older brother. All that was left was his return.
Sasuke probably wouldn't come back. The thought was more acceptable than Sakura staying gone from the village.
Naruto slammed his fist down on his dresser, angry. What the hell had been going through Sakura's head? Was she that scorned by his rejection to take off out of the blue?
It didn't matter; regardless of the reason, it was poor judgment on her part. Sakura was being impulsive and careless. Outside the walls of the village, there were things too difficult to handle for just one shinobi.
Even when Sasuke left, he had company.
Sakura couldn't have thought through what she was getting herself into, leaving on her own like she had.
Dumb girl…
Of course, being her friend, he had an obligation to go find her and bring her back, just like he had promised her he would do with Sasuke.
"Your promise to me about Sasuke doesn't matter anymore."
Bullshit. It was all bullshit.
Why did so many responsibilities fall upon his shoulders? Was this what being Hokage would amount to?
Naruto lie down on his bed, atop all the clothes, beside the scattered kunai and other weapons and closed his eyes. A headache was forming behind his temples, pounding away like war drums.
He rolled over onto his side, staring out the window at the setting sun. He needed sleep; if he left out tomorrow lacking rest, it would make the trek ten times worse than it would already be.
For once ignoring his growling stomach, Naruto draped an arm over his eyes, blocking out the remainder of the light dripping in through the window.
These would be long weeks to come. It was going to take a lot to keep his patience from wearing thin.
I recognize Naruto may be a bit ooc; it's how I planned to write him [for this story].
I have a bad habit of writing more stories than finishing them...
Reviews are always appreciated.
