He was never a light sleeper. He was almost always asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Tonight he was dreaming of the good ol' days, when they were all still Team Seven. When Sasuke was still in Konoha, not some rogue S-Class missing-nin, and Sakura was still in the village as a top medic and not a lethal assassin and highly-treasured member of the Akatsuki. Back when his heart's sister was crushing on Sasuke, and Naruto was crushing on her, Sasuke was just being his normal cold, but caring-in-his-own-way person, and Kakashi was still their perverted mysterious sensei with his orange-covered Icha Icha Paradise book that they weren't allowed to look at.
Thinking of the old days made Naruto miss Sasuke and Sakura all the more. Though he was still asleep, his chest tightened, trying to fend off the familiar pain at his ex-teammates' memories.
His mind suddenly switched to the worst times of his life. First, it was when he battled Sasuke on the hospital roof, then the battle in the Valley Of End (A/N: Right? The Valley of End?). Then it was knowing that Sasuke left, and then Sakura's painful betrayal, a year after she killed Sasori.
It was painful even now, despite the fact that she defected three years ago. It was horrendously painful for him and most of Konoha, even more so than Sasuke' betrayal. They had been through so much, through Sasuke's treachery, through the constant Akatsuki attacks, through wars with the other ninja villages…they had been through a lot, and so her departure was more painful, in both an emotional and physical way. Naruto could remember the way his heart had ached so badly that he had just wanted to shrivel up and die. He remembered it perfectly. He remembered the whole night, during a lunar eclipse, the first in a long time.
The two were walking through the forest, fully enjoying each other's company, chatting quietly about nothing important, just as they did at any other time, though it was quieter as to not disturb the odd sense of peace that the eclipse left the forest shrouded in.
"Naruto…" the pinkette besides him whispered quietly, quieter than her previous idle chatter. She seemed to have a grimace in place, though it did not mar her beautiful features.
"Yeah? What is it, Sakura-chan?" he asked, his cerulean eyes glowing in the temporary darkness
She seemed to wince from an inner struggle at the cheerful tone of his voice, though it was barely noticeable.
"I need to leave. I have to leave Konoha, and I can never return" she stated, her emerald orbs piercing his, scrutinizing, gauging his reaction.
Her voice had been clung to with regret on every word, as if she really didn't want to leave, but something or someone was forcing her to. Maybe it was all the pressure. Maybe it was memories that sprung up unbidden when in the village. Sakura was strong-willed, as was Naruto, but even she had her limit, and the memories came, whether wanted or not, by simply walking through the streets, even worse when passing the Uchiha compound, no matter how much they tried to avoid it.
Naruto gasped, his eyes widening, his cerulean orbs glowing like a beacon. They suddenly started to look like Rasengan, swirling and changing and never the same as before. They were swimming with emotions, of varying forms of anger, betrayal, hurt, pain, and some other emotions, like understanding, sympathy, and wistfulness. The Kyuubi's crimson chakra swirled as well, leaving red shards and swirls in his darkening cobalt eyes.
"Why, Sakura-chan? Why do you have to leave? Do you have to help civilians, or join another nation?" he asked, curious, but slightly cautious as well.
Slowly she shook her head, her short pink hair gently caressing her cheeks as the silky locks moved with her head. Her emerald eyes darkened into a more somber expression.
"No, Naruto. I must leave, and I will join Akatsuki, as my true place has been for years, though I tried to ignore it, to fight it. You are the first to know, and hopefully you will break it to Shishou in a calming manner. I hope that I will not be on the team to capture you, Naruto. Honestly, Leader-sama doesn't care about my feelings, but to fulfill our goal, we must do what we can" she said.
Now the Kyuubi's energy surrounded him, though she could tell that he was trying to fight it.
Naruto lowered his head, trying to hide his conflicting emotions.
"You will be helping extract the Kyuubi" he stated rather than asked, as if it was a well-known fact.
"Correct" Sakura replied, her eyes darkening further with something closely resembling…regret? Pain? Longing?
"Then I wish that all my pain will be inflicted on you, Haruno" he said, the Kyuubi's deep voice rumbling with his own, adding an even more ominous tone to his quickly deepening tenor.
She unconsciously flinched at the name, and then schooled her face back into the blank mask, successfully concealing the emotional turmoil beneath. She took a deep breath, heaving in a lungful of the crisp night air into her lungs.
"I am sorry you feel that way, Naruto. You may consider me an enemy; you may hate me as much as you hate the rest of them, or perhaps as much as you hate Orochimaru. But you will always be my best friend, even if you are the one to kill me. I am truly sorry for this. But I must take my leave now. I truly do hope you forget about me, so that your pain will not exist on the forefront of your mind, or that you aren't as painfully aware of it. Ja ne, Naruto. I hope you do become Hokage, and I truly hope that you do not get captured by us. Farewell" she said, her voice blending in with the wind, her body already leaving with said wind in a whirl of cherry blossoms.
After he was sure that she was gone, his own stoic mask crumbled into millions of bits and pieces. From his standing position, his knees weakened, feeling like jelly, and then gave out; leaving him to fall onto the cool grass that he was standing on beforehand.
'This isn't happening' he thought, not able to completely wrap his mind around such a concept. The loving, caring medic-nin, proud kunoichi of Fire country, now an Akatsuki? A traitor? Haruno Sakura, the infamous Konoha Sweetheart? No way. Not in a million years. Never. It's a lie.
'It is, boy. She's gone, and she's left you here all alone to deal with the problems, the past. Are you going to stand for this? Shouldn't you track her down and eradicate her, taking back your dignity, your trust that you wrongly placed in her?' the Kyuubi asked, his voice slightly gentle but also minutely manipulative.
'No' Naruto thought. 'I'm not like you. I am Naruto Uzumaki, not a mere fox. Call me weak, but I cannot do that to my best friend. She may have betrayed me, but I will never betray her'
The Kyuubi was speechless in the back of his mind, and he was snarling just a bit. Then he withdrew from Naruto's mind, leaving Naruto alone on the ground in favor of his uncomfortable seal.
Naruto's will gave way, and for the first time in a long time, he cried. He sobbed, he bawled. He whimpered and sniveled like a weakling. He blubbered to himself for hours, howling at the pain clawing at his chest.
He didn't notice that the eclipse had ended after she left. He didn't notice the wildlife curiously peering at him from the shadows. All he noticed was the pain that was trying to bring him under.
He was sucked under, into pitch darkness. It took away his pain, however momentarily, and for that he was grateful. When he awoke, he was sure that he would find out that this is just a really bad nightmare, and that things would go back to normal, and that tomorrow he and the rest of Team Kakashi would eat lunch at his Ichiraku, then they would go on their B-Class mission, with every member in tow, including Kakashi-sensei, Sai, himself, and Sakura. It woul be normal. Everyday. No betrayal, it was just a dream. Everything was okay. Just open his eyes, and the world would be back to normal.
It wasn't.