Bridges
OKAY, Discalimers and warnings: I don't own naruto. in all honesty i don't want to own it cause i'm not nearly creative enough to own it and then naruto would suck and no one would be writing fan fiction about it. So you should actually be thanking me for not owning it. ALSO! this story is long, bi-polar, slightly OOC and contains boy/boy action. no actual descriptive lemon but heck, this is my first try. Anyway... ON WITH THE STORY!!
The mission had taken twice as long as it was supposed to have. Instead of three months it had taken nearly six and a half. He was tired and just wanted to get back to the village where everything was calm and normal. But this time, something was different. He knew it the second he got back from his mission. He could feel his presence just while approaching the front gates. Then all the looks from the villagers confirmed it. Sasuke was back. He took a deep breath and ran to his apartment as fast as he could. He didn't want to deal with it right now. However, he found Sakura standing in front of his door waiting for him.
"I heard you were back." She said softly.
"Please, Sakura, I'm really tired. Can we talk about this tomorrow?" Naruto asked opening his door. He went into his apartment and Sakura followed.
"How did you," Sakura started but stopped when Naruto looked back at her.
"I've spent five years looking for him. You think I wouldn't know if he came back?" He asked. Sakura looked at the floor.
"He's been back for about a month." She said.
"That's nice." Naruto said in an indifferent tone.
"Tsunade locked him up. He's in solitary confinement." She said. Naruto shrugged and started pulling off his dirty mission clothes. "From the ANBU reports he hasn't eaten or slept or done much of anything since he's been put there."
"Okay." Naruto shrugged.
"Naruto." Sakura said softly as she reached out to him.
"What do you want me to do, Sakura? I have more important things than Sasuke to think about now." Naruto told her. Sakura bit her lip and bowed her head slightly in defeat.
"I'm glad you came back safely. Things aren't the same without you around. We started to miss you, some more than others." She said softly.
"Yeah. How is Rei?" Naruto asked.
"He's not the same without you around. He's still at my house I didn't want to bring him and have you not show up." She said softly. Naruto nodded.
"I'll come by tomorrow and pick him up." Naruto said.
"Sure." Sakura nodded. She turned to leave.
"Sakura." Naruto called. She stopped but didn't turn to face him.
"Thanks." Naruto said.
"It's nothing. I enjoy taking care of Rei." Sakura said.
"No, I meant about Sasuke. I know that's why you came." Naurto said softly. Sakura said nothing. She nodded her head and left the apartment. Naruto sighed heavily and went to his bathroom. He took a quick shower refusing to let his thoughts wander to anything other than the hot water pelting his sore muscles and his desperate need for sleep. He finished his shower and dried off. Pulling on a clean pair of boxers he laid down on his bed and passed out. Thankful for the dreamless sleep he was allowed instead of the usual nightmares involving a certain missing-nin who recently returned to the village.
--
A soft knocking entered the sleepy blonde's head, stirring him from his sleep. It wasn't until his sleep-hazed mind woke up that he realized it wasn't quiet knocking but loud banging coming from his front door.
"DADDY!" someone screamed form the other side of the door. Nearly tripping as he jumped out of the bed, Naruto made it to the front door in less than two steps. It flung open as a small body flew forward into his arms. The small child started crying into Naruto's chest. "I missed you daddy. Don't leave me alone any more please." He cried. Naruto pet the boy's hair and rocked him slightly.
"I'm sorry Rei. I promise that I'll try not to stay away for too long." Naruto whispered into his hair. The boy tightened his grip on Naruto as Naruto lifted him off of the ground. Naruto noticed Sakura standing in the doorway and smiled at her.
"He found out you were back when Kakashi came home." Sakura said trying to explain why they were there. Not that Naruto really cared. Naruto shifted Rei on his hip slightly and looked at him.
"You hungry?" He asked. Rei nodded.
"Ramen!" Rei said excitedly. Naruto and Sakura laughed. Naruto had found and adopted a miniature version of his self. Most people were shocked while others were afraid that there were two Narutos in the village at first but then after the first year everyone warmed up to Rei and now everyone loved him.
"How about we invite Aunt Sakura and Uncle Kakashi to eat with us?" Naruto asked. Rei nodded and looked at Sakura excitedly.
"You want to come?" He asked.
"I'd love to, but Kakashi is probably still asleep." Sakura said. Rei got an evil look on his face, obviously plotting something devious. "He'll smack you if you wake him up." Sakura warned the small child. Kakashi had used his sharingan on Rei once and now Rei was terrified of upsetting his Uncle. Rei's devious look fell and he gulped loudly.
"Then we probably shouldn't wake him." Rei said. Naruto smiled and set Rei down on the floor.
"I'm going to get dressed and then we'll go eat." Naruto said going into the bedroom and grabbing the only pair of clean clothes he had.
"I see you're going to have to do laundry today." Sakura smiled seeing the black shirt that read 'this is literally my last shirt' in red letters and the gray sweat pants stained with paint from when he was helping Sai clean his house and a shelf full of paint fell over on top of him.
"Yeah, six moth missions are a bitch." Naruto said. Sakura hit him and Rei giggled.
"Watch your language in front of your son." She snapped at him. Naruto smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.
"Sorry, Sakura." He said.
"Daddy, can we go eat?" Rei said pulling on Naruto's pants leg. Naruto smiled.
"Lets go, I'm starving." Naruto said. He picked Rei up and put him on his shoulders. Rei cheered and they all walked out of the apartment.
"Naruto!" Kiba shouted as he ran up.
"Hey, Kiba." Naruto smiled seeing his friend.
"I heard you got back yesterday. We were getting worried for a while, I'm glad you made it back okay, man." Kiba said. Kiba then looked up at Rei. "Hey squirt." He smiled. Rei beamed at him. Out of all of his father's friends Kiba was one of his favorites because Kiba had Akamaru.
"Hello Kiba." Rei said.
"How are you this morning?" Kiba asked.
"We're on our way to eat." Rei told him.
"Would you like to join us?" Naruto asked. Kiba sighed.
"I'd love to man, but me and Akamaru are doing our rounds. If you're still there in half an hour I'd love to join you." Kiba said.
"What do you mean if? These two would never leave the Ramen stand if it weren't for me." Sakura said. Kiba laughed and Naruto and Rei gave her almost identical glares.
"Cool, then I'll see you later." Kiba smiled and waved to them as he ran off. The trio continued to the ramen stand where they found Shikamaru and Choji just as Kiba had said.
"Hmm, Naruto. You are alive." Shikamaru said. Naruto set Rei down and the boy jumped on a stool and ordered five bowls of Ramen, two for him and three for his daddy.
"Yeah, I was excited to get back home." Naruto said.
"Until you found you about," Choji started and Naruto winced. He really didn't want Choji to say his name for some reason. Choji saw the wince and quickly shut his mouth.
"Yeah, until then I guess." Naruto said. Rei looked at his father not knowing what they were talking about.
"Daddy?" He asked.
"Don't worry about it, Rei. Just eat your ramen." Naruto said softly and smiled warmly at his son. Rei nodded and kept eating.
"So, what are you going to do?" Shikamaru asked.
"I didn't realize that I was supposed to do anything." Naruto said somewhat bitterly. He didn't want to talk about it. He wanted to ignore it.
"Well, you are," Shikamaru started.
"So, Naruto, did Rei tell you about Kakashi helping him with his ninja training?" Sakura asked quickly stopping Shikamaru form finishing his sentence.
"Really?" Naruto asked looking at his son. Rei smiled and nodded.
"Yeah! He says I need to start early if I'm gonna be as great as you." Rei said excitedly. Naruto laughed and ruffled Rei's hair.
"That's my boy." Naruto smiled.
"Don't you think he's a little young to be training?" Shikamaru asked.
"What? Are you questioning my training abilities?" Kakashi asked form behind them. The five at the bar jumped slightly and turned to see the smiling older man. "Yo." He said; his visible eye crinkled in a smile.
"Kakashi, don't sneak up on us." Sakura snapped and hit him. Kakashi rubbed his arm where she had hit him and looked over at Naruto.
"I hear the mission was a success?" Kakashi asked. Naruto nodded.
"Thankfully." Naruto said quickly glancing at Rei.
"Have you turned in your report to Tsunade?" Kakashi asked. Naruto winced slightly knowing she wasn't going to be happy he's turning it in late.
"Yeah, I was going to run by later." Naruto said. Sakura sighed.
"You know she hates when you turn your reports in late." Sakura said.
"I don't care; I had more important things to handle first." Naruto said. Rei smiled when everyone looked at him knowing that he was what Naruto had been talking about. Kakashi laughed and lifted Sakura to sit in her chair and then pull her onto his lap. Naruto smiled. Kakashi and Sakura had been together for almost a year. When Naruto stopped looking for Sasuke he decided that team seven needed to hang out more. After a few months Kakashi and Sakura started realizing they had deeper feelings than just friendship. Naruto encouraged them but both were too nervous to do anything until about a year ago when Naruto locked them in a room and forced them to talk to each other about it. They were together the next day.
"You should turn your report in pretty soon; Tsunade isn't in the best of moods." Sakura told him as she stood up. Kakashi tried to keep in a whimper at the loss of her warmth but it ended up coming out as a squeak. Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji giggled under their breath while Rei laughed out loudly. "I have to get back to the hospital; I'll walk with you, Naruto." Sakura said.
"But what about Kiba? He said he would meet us here." Naruto said.
"Choji will tell him you had to see the hokage." Sakura said pointing at Choji.
"If I have to wait here for him, I don't mind at all." Choji smiled as he ordered another bowl of ramen.
"Tsk, troublesome." Shikamaru sighed.
"Fine." Naruto sighed. He stood up and looked at Rei.
"I'll take Rei for training while you go see the hokage." Kakashi said quickly knowing why Naruto didn't want to take Rei with him. Rei jumped up.
"Really? Awesome!" Rei shouted. Naruto smiled softly at Kakashi.
"Yeah, that sounds good." Naruto nodded. Naruto kissed his son's head and left with Sakura.
"She's going to want to talk to you about him." Sakura said. Naruto nodded but said nothing. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" Naruto smiled. Sakura could tell it was fake. Naruto could tell she knew it was fake but kept the smile. It was more for his reassurance than for hers anyway. Sakura reached out and took his hand and Naruto squeezed it. It didn't really make him feel better, but he was thankful for the gesture regardless. Sakura walked with Naruto all the way to the hokage's office before she dropped his hand.
"I really have to get back to the hospital." She said. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" She asked. Naruto nodded. She kissed his cheek and gave him a reassuring smile before running down the hall. Naruto knocked on the large doors of the office.
"What?" Tsunade's voice called angrily from the other side. Naruto opened the door and stuck his head in. Tsunade's angered expression softened slightly at the sight of him. Naruto stepped into the office and shut the door. "I heard you came back yesterday." She said. Naruto nodded.
"I'm sorry for the delay; I had to spend time with Rei." Naruto said bowing slightly. Tsunade grunted and he looked up at her.
"Don't bow to me brat, I know how much you hate it." She said. Naruto straightened up and looked at the floor. "I'm sure you've heard by now." She said.
"Yes." Naruto said softly. Tsunade watched him closely as his shoulders slumped slightly forward.
"Naruto," Tsunade called softly.
"Why now?" Naruto asked clenching his fists. Tsunade could tell he was trying not to cry in front of her. "Why did he have to come back now? Why did he have to come back at all?" Naruto asked.
"He won't talk to us." Tsunade said.
"We were getting along just fine without him. I was just fine without him and now he's back." Naruto said angrily.
"Naruto," Tsunade sighed.
"I don't need your pity!" Naruto yelled at her. "I don't want anyone's pity. I can't stand the sympathetic looks, or the constant checking on me, or the whispers that people try to hide because they don't want to talk about that bastard around me." He shouted angrily. Tsunade winced slightly at the volume. "I don't want pity." Naruto said softly before he started crying. Tsunade quickly got up and wrapped her arms around Naruto. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring him back and now he's here." Naruto cried. He had spent five years trying to bring Sasuke back. Sasuke had killed Orochimaru and Itachi but still hadn't returned. At their last meeting Sasuke had told Naruto to give up on him because he wasn't going to ever come back as long as he lived. But now, three years after that, Sasuke was back.
"I know, Naruto." Tsunade said softly trying to comfort the crying young man.
"Why is he back? Why did he have to come back?" Naruto asked over and over again. Tsunade just held him until he stopped crying. Naruto sighed and stepped away from her. "I'm pathetic, aren't I?" Naruto asked wiping his eyes.
"No." Tsunade said warmly.
"I am." Naruto said and sat down on the floor. "I'm pathetic for letting him affect me like this. I shouldn't care, but I still do." Naruto said. There was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Tsunade said. Naruto didn't care if anyone saw him sitting on the floor and crying at the moment. A man dressed as a prison guard entered the room. He froze when he saw Naruto on the floor.
"Should I come back?" The guard asked.
"No, don't mind me." Naruto said pitifully.
"Um, the prisoner still isn't responding." The guard said.
"You can say his name." Naruto said.
"Sasuke hasn't moved from his spot and hasn't eaten or drunk anything. We try to force him but it's no use." The guard said. Tsunade's eyes went over to Naruto.
"I have to get going, granny. I don't want to force Kakashi to train Rei all day." Naruto said before Tsunade could say anything about Sasuke. He could see it in her eyes that she was going ask him something. Naruto jumped out of the window and ran as fast as he could to the training grounds. The training grounds shook as Naruto slammed a rasengan into the dirt. He laid down in the giant crater in the middle of the field.
"Something you want to talk about?" A soft voice called. Naruto growled at the imaginary Sasuke. He would imagine Sasuke whenever he was too stressed and needed someone to talk to. When Sasuke was there, he was the person Naruto took out all his frustrations on so when he left he created an imaginary Sasuke.
"Go away, Sasuke." Naruto said softly.
"Why are you so upset?" Sasuke asked.
"Why did you come back?" Naruto asked.
"Is that why you're upset?" Sasuke asked.
"I couldn't bring you back. You said I would have to kill you to get you back here and now you're back. Why did you do that?" Naruto asked softly. The imaginary Sasuke didn't answer. He couldn't of course because he was imaginary.
"Naruto?" A soft voice called. Naruto looked up to see Hinata standing there.
"Hey, Hinata." Naruto said.
"What are you doing?" Hinata asked.
"Laying in a hole." Naruto said looking at the crater he had created. Hinata climbed down and sat down next to him.
"Are you okay?" She asked. Naruto knew from her tone that she was talking about him physically and not about Sasuke being back.
"I'm fine." Naruto said sitting up. Hinata looked at the hole around them.
"What happened?" Hinata asked.
"You haven't heard?" Naruto asked looking at her. She looked confused.
"I guess not." She said. "I've been on a mission for two months. I just got back. I was looking for Kiba and found you."
"Sasuke is back." Naruto said softly. Hinata looked at him.
"Is that good or bad?" She asked. Naruto looked at her a little shocked.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. Hinata shrugged.
"Isn't it what you wanted?" Hinata asked. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. "You always said Sasuke was coming back. And now he is."
"Yeah, I guess." Naruto said. "I don't really know how to feel about it. I mean I'm kind of happy he's back but I'm sad because I remember what he said the last time I saw him and then I'm angry because everyone pities me now."
"I won't pity you if you don't want me to." Hinata said. Naruto nodded and stood up. He helped Hinata up as well.
"I need to find Kakashi and Rei. Kiba should be finished with his rounds now. He was supposed to meet me for ramen, but I had to go see Tsunade. He might still be there." Naruto said. Hinata nodded.
"Thanks, Naruto." She smiled softly at him and blushed a bit.
"Bye, Hinata." Naruto smiled and ran off to find his son.