A Circle of Hate and Complicated Relationships
Chapter 1
Naruto:
"Naruto! Wake up and get out here!" a familiar voice called from outside the door.
"Yeah, Yeah, I'm coming Sakura." Naruto grumbled, only half awake with his cup of ramen and walked to the door. He opened his door to see his pink haired friend tapping her foot impaitently.
"Ramen for breakfast again?" Sakura questioned, raising her eyebrows
"Yeah! But wait, we have today off... " Naruto paused, "Is this a date?"
Sakura slapped him and sighed.
"Lady Tsunade called us for something! Now hurry up and get dressed so she doesnt have to wait any longer!"
"Just hold on a second... heh... i'm trying to remember where i put my outfit last night."
"Naruto you're so pathetic! Its over there on that chair." Sakura grumbled
"Oh yeah! Just ummm... wait out here." Naruto replied, closing the door.
Awww man. I really thought Sakura was gonna ask me out. Naruto thought inwardly.
Naruto threw on his clothes and rushed out the door. Sakura grabbed Naruto by the back of his shirt and started pulling him.
"Wha-"
"Just come on! We have to hurry!" Sakura said, running now.
Sakura and Naruto weaved their way through the streets, carefully avoiding bumping into other pedestrians.
"Hi Naruto!" a shy voice called behind them
"Hinata! How are you?" Naruto replied, slowing down so she could catch up
The blue haired girl blushed slightly, avoiding looking directly at Naruto's face.
"Im great, thank you..." Hinata struggled to come up with conversation, "Where are you and Sakura going?"
"We're going to go see Grandma Tsunade, apparently she has something to tell us."
"Thats good! Do you know-"
" Listen Hinata we would love to stay and chat, but Naruto and I really need to get going." Sakura interrupted, glaring sharply at Naruto
Hinata's face fell, but she managed to smile.
"Thats ok, I understand. Well... See you around!"
"Naruto, did you not understand when i said we have to hurry?" Sakura muttered
Naruto and Sakura rushed up to lady Tsunade's office
"We're here lady Tsunade! Naruto took forever getting up and ready and decided to stop and talk along the way." Sakura panted
" Did not," Naruto protested, "I just- "
"There's no time for this," Tsunade snapped, " We have gotten intel on Sasuke and Itachi. Turns out Sasuke is teamed up with the Akatsuki and Itachi is dead. Sasuke's apparent goal now is to destroy Konoha."
Naruto clenched his fists with surprise and anger. Itachi was dead? And Sasuke teamed up with the Akatsuki to destroy Konoha? Naruto heard Sakura gasped and turned to see her fighting back tears. Naruto remembered with a twinge of jealousy that Sasuke had captured Sakura's heart and just a few long seconds of silence Naruto decided to say something.
" Why would he want to do that? What could've happened after his fight with Itachi to make him want to destroy Konoha?" Naruto whispered, his knuckles turning white.
" I don't know. But Sasuke is now a threat to Konoha. Operation Capture Akatsuki is still going on and since Sasuke is working with the Akatsuki he falls under that category. I am going to issue an order for his capture as well as the rest of the Akatsuki." Tsunade announced
" But why? Why can't we try and convince him to not destroy Konoha? Maybe he will want to come back." Naruto said hopefully
" Naruto, Its not that simple. Sasuke has never been an easy person to convince. And don't forget that he's working with the Akatsuki. He's never been friendly with the Akatsuki and he must really have a grudge against Konoha to team up with them." Sakura sighed
"Yeah, but if we capture him, that's not going to make him like Konoha anymore than he doe now. And besides... why does he hate Konoha? Shouldn't we try and find the answer to that before we try and capture him?" Naruto contradicted
" Yes, that sounds like a good idea," Kakashi says, stepping into the room, " but Sasuke's not the type to just sit down and listen to what we have to say. And much less give us direct answers."
" Yeah but..." Naruto sighed
How can Sasuke do this? I refuse to believe that we can't do anything about Sasuke's hatred toward Konoha. Naruto fumed inwardly. Out of the corner of his eye, Sakura was wiping away the tears that involintarily poured down her face. Naruto wished that he could just tell her that everything was okay and that this isnt true. But deep inside Naruto knew this was reality and that he and Sakura had to accept it.
" Look! Sasuke may be a threat to Konoha. But there may be another way to stop him from trashing the village! Like you said, Operation Capture Akatsuki is still on. We can still try and capture them. There's no guarantee that Sasuke will try and get them back once we have them. That way his forces are weakened." Naruto suggested
"That's an idea. But don't forget Naruto that the Akatsuki are still going after you. It's risky sending you guys out there when we don't know how strong their forces are. Pain is a dangerous shinobi. Don't forget, he's still a mystery and a part of the Akatsuki. remember, he was able to take down Jiraiya." Tsunade reminded them
Naruto was fuming now. Is she giving up? Why after all these years of searching for ways to bring Sasuke back home, does their mission seem impossible?
" Whatever! You can give up! But that's not part of my shinobi way. I never go back on my word. I said i will bring Sasuke back to Konoha and i will!" Naruto shouted and turned to leave out the door.
"Naruto,wait! We're not giving up! We're just being cautious!" Sakura called after him
" Leave him be Sakura," Tsunade sighed, " If he doesn't see that this is a dangerous situation and that he's being impulsive so be it. There are missions that still need to be carried out. If he refuses to be apart of them then we'll leave him out."
Naruto clenched his fists even tighter, causing them to start bleeding. I will not be left out. Naruto thought furiously. I will go find Sasuke myself and find out what's really going on.
A few hours later a knocking came at Naruto's door. He got up to answer it slowly. When he opened the door Kakashi was leaning against the doorway.
" Don't tell me you came here to tell me that i was being impulsive because i don't care." Naruto grumbled
"No. I was actually coming to ask you when you were going to leave to find Sasuke." Kakashi replied
Naruto couldn't hide the look of surprise on his face.
"How'd you know?"
"I know you. But i'm saying right now that you can't go alone. The Akatsuki can find you." Kakashi reminded him
"So you'll go with me?" Naruto questioned hopefully
"Well i informed some others on the situation. They were willing to come along, but we need a plan first." Kakashi informed
"Who is it?" Naruto asked eagerly
" Just wait 'til morning. Be at my place at 10am so we can go over the details."
" Ok! But what about Tsunade? Does she know?"
"No," Kakashi hesitated, " And you shouldn't say anything regarding the matter. We'll cover on how we'll leave without her noticing tomorrow."
As Kakashi left Naruto was left with an excited feeling. So we're not giving up on Sasuke... Naruto thought. But doubt started to creep into Naruto's mind as he wondered if they would really go unnoticed. We'll find a way, Naruto convinced himself as he laid down for a nap.