It's raining.

The sky is grey and dark, but a ray of light is shining down to the blonde's face. The other boy with dark hair only stands there, staring down, as if contemplating his decision. He looks down to him with that emotionless expression.

To kill him, or let him live.

He then suddenly felt the pain from his right shoulder. He gripped his shoulder as he fell down to his knees and closed his eyes in pain. When he opened them, his unconscious face was only inches away from his own.

It would be very easy to kill him now. Just one stab on his chest, straight to his heart, and the ultimate eye would be his. Just like what his brother had said to him.

The thought of gaining the power the same way as his brother suddenly sickens him. So, he decided to leave, and go that Snake. He wobbly stands up, still gripping his painful shoulder, before turning away, to the direction of Orochimaru's lair, into the depth of the opposite forest.

He took the first step. He barely cared about his numbing shoulder anymore.

He took the second step. His feet felt so heavy to move.

However, before he managed to get a third step, he felt a hand gripped his other shoulder, forced him to stop and turn. He then felt pain from the back of his neck.

The last thing he saw before darkness consumed him was a lone, angry eye of an onyx orb.

A Cherished Hope
by Sapphire09

All of my memories

Keep you near

In silent moments

Imagine you'd be here

All of my memories

Keep you near

The silent whispers, silent tears

— Within Temptation; Memories

I. The Trust Which Was Lost

Blue eyes slowly opened as the owner regains his consciousness. The first thing he saw is a white ceiling.

"Finally decided to wake up, Gaki?" he heard a voice came from the direction of his window. He raised his eyebrows upon seeing his white-haired teacher sitting at the windowsill.

"Ero-sennin?" he said weakly. He then lifted his body and tried to take a sitting position. He then realized that almost his entire body is covered with bandages.

"Where am I…?" he muttered, before his brain finally registered what has happened. He then turned to Jiraiya, so fast that it's a wonder his neck didn't break.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, he—"

"Calm down, Gaki. He's still in Konoha," Jiraiya said in attempt to calm the panicked blond. Naruto's face then scrunched in confusion.

"N-Nani? D-Demo… (W-What? B-But…) I couldn't beat him!" Naruto asked again, still in confusion.

"Well, after he beat you, Kakashi came silently and quickly made him unconscious and brought him back here. He woke up around three days ago, though. Right now, he's in the middle of doing his punishment; house arrest for a few months and momentarily has his ninja status stripped off. Kakashi is now his personal watcher, so I don't think your team will have any team meetings soon," Jiraiya explained.

Naruto then smiled softly, but a little sad. "Sou ka (Is that so)?" he merely said before he looks away. Silence then washed over them.

"How's the rest of the retrieval team?" he asked again.

"They're fine though wounded. The Sand Siblings came to help. Temari helped Shikamaru, Kankurou to Kiba, and Gaara to Lee. The only ones who were in critical condition were Chouji and Neji, but it was nothing Tsunade couldn't handle."

Naruto sighed in relief. "That's good," he said before it's silent again.

"Sakura came yesterday," Jiraiya said again, disrupting the silence. Naruto then turned to him again in interest.

"She said she'll come here again around—," knocking then could be heard, "—now."

Naruto hurriedly back to behind the blanket, pretending to be asleep. Jiraiya raised his eyebrows in confusion, but when he noticed Naruto's unsure eyes, he let it slide. It seems even the boy himself doesn't know why he felt the need to hide.

Hearing no reply, Sakura opened the door and invites herself into the room. In her hand there's a stem of white lily. Jiraiya then greeted her.

"Has he woken up yet?" she asked. Jiraiya nodded. "He has, but it seems he was very tired, so he fell asleep again," Jiraiya said. Sakura then stares at Naruto's sleeping figure before her eyes softened.

"I see…," she said before she walks closer to him and switch the flower inside the glass pot on the table besides the bed. She stared at him for a while before he turned to Jiraiya, who is still sitting at the window.

"Jiraiya-sama," she starts. "Please… Please tell him that I really thank him for bringing Sasuke back. He may have lost, but at least he managed to slow him down until Kakashi finally came. Unlike me…," she trailed. She looks down in regret.

"I can't even hold him for some chuunin to come, and he was still in the village…," she muttered. "I always has been the one who stands in the back and watch. I always am a burden in the team, but…." She then looks up again.

"I'll improve… I won't be someone useless the next time something like this happens. Next time… He will be the one who will watch me. Next time, he will have me to help him," she said with determined expression. "Next time… he can count on me to save him. I love Sasuke, but for me, Naruto is also a very important friend."

Jiraiya widened his eyes in surprise, but then he smiled.

"Yeah… I'll tell him that," he said as he nodded. Sakura also nodded before sparing one last look to Naruto and leave the room.

"I don't think I'll need to, though," he muttered after Sakura is out.

Jiraiya then turned to the sleeping figure. "Why didn't you respond?" he asked. Naruto is still silent, unmoving. His head is turned away from Jiraiya, so he can't see his face.

"Ero-sennin…," Naruto started. Jiraiya frowned at the nickname, but he let Naruto continue.

"What do you think will happen if she knew what's inside me?"

Jiraiya was startled at the sudden serious question. He then sees Naruto's head shifted a bit to him.

"What will happen, if everyone knew?" he asked again. His voice was weak and defeated, on the contrary to his usual spirited, cheerful voice.

Jiraiya frowned. "Gaki…," he started. "They're your friends! Even if they knew, they won't leave you just like that. Just have faith in them!" he scolded. He then saw Naruto shifted and now the blond is sitting on his bed with his head turned to him. His eyes are narrowed, but also confused and weren't focused on him. His hands are gripping the sheet.

"How do you know that?" he asked. "How do you know that! If there's anything I truly learnt is the fact that we can't know how exactly what's inside a human heart!" he said again more harshly.

Jiraiya then realized that he is shaking. His eyes then softened.

"Is this about Sasuke's betrayal, Naruto?" From how he flinched, Jiraiya realized he's right. Naruto's head then bowed down, hiding his eyes beneath his bangs.

"I thought I knew him… I thought I understand him… But, in truth…," his grip on the sheet tightens then. "I know nothing at all," he spat bitterly. Jiraiya then sighed before all went silent.

"It hurts, isn't it?" Jiraiya said. "That pain… It was so suffocating and managed to make you close your heart, wasn't it?" he said full of understanding as he stared at the sky.

Naruto stayed still, before he nodded slowly. He then put his arm around his knees and sits on a fetal position. "What should I do now, Ero-sennin? I really wished to trust him again… To believe him again, but…," he trailed off. His voice is muffled by the blanket around him and also the fact he buried his head in his knees, but Jiraiya still heard him clearly.

"Now, I can't even see my friends the same way I used to see them. Now, I'm haunted by the thought of them leaving me too," he said at last. "Especially once they knew what's inside me…"

Jiraiya then turned to him again. "They still accept Sasuke. Why won't they accept you?"

"It was because he was a comrade, a fellow ninja of Konoha," Naruto muttered, repeating what Shikamaru had said before their retrieval mission. Jiraiya's eyes then narrowed.

"And you weren't?"

Naruto then glanced to him with unsure eyes. "I never was, Jiraiya," he said before he bowed his head down again. "All they know is Uzumaki Naruto, the resident prankster and a dead-last, not Uzumaki Naruto, the vessel of the greatest demon which destroyed the village 12 years ago. It was the dead-last 'Naruto' that they thought as a comrade, not me."

Jiraiya then flopped down from the windowsill and moved near the bed. "If they are your friend, they won't abandon you, Gaki!" he said strictly. He does not like the way his pupil is thinking.

"What if they weren't? What if it was only me who thought them as my friends?" he said again. Jiraiya's eyes narrowed then.

"One betrayal and you decided not to trust anyone again?" he asked. "Did you even listen to what you have said?"

Jiraiya received no answer. He stared at his pupil in sadness. It was one betrayal, but it was also a betrayal that wounded him to the core. Jiraiya knew that, but he hated to think that the usually energetic and optimistic boy could actually think like that.

"If… If Kakashi didn't arrive on time, what would you do?"

Naruto turned his head slightly to Jiraiya then. Even though his face is facing him, his eyes weren't. They were pinned to the blanket in his grip.

"I'll chase him, even to the depths of hell itself."

"Why?" Jiraiya asked. "He betrayed you."

"Because…," he started, "I have a promise to Sakura that I'll bring him back, no matter what."

Jiraiya frowned then. Before he got the chance say anything, Naruto continued.

"I'll be able to focus in bringing him back instead of thinking how my friends will react once they knew the Kyuubi."

Jiraiya realized the implication of those words. He realized that it might be true. Naruto, he knew, wasn't as mindless as everyone made him to be. Naruto, once given time and something to think of, he can think of it and various outcomes of that something, and imprint the best outcome in his mind. In this case, had Sasuke gotten away, he'll put it in his mind that he have to get stronger and find him quickly, since it is the best possible outcome, instead of waiting inside the village.

He'll be able to put aside all the thought of what his friends might think, since his mind would only be filled with the thought of Sasuke.

But, Sasuke didn't get away, and he's now in Konoha. It makes Naruto thinking of things he never thought of before.

Before, he strived to be Hokage, to be accepted. Before, he tried everything to make people notice him, acknowledge him. And after he became a ninja, people started to acknowledge him, notice him. Soon, he gained people who he can call friends.

And best friends.

The dream of becoming Hokage now is no longer to gain acknowledgement, but to protect those that he cared about. But then, everything went downhill. The best friend, the one that he thought accepted him for all he is, betrayed him for power.

What is power, anyway? Why is it so important?

How can he believe that none of his friends will betray him again because of the same reason?

Power.

'Power… It was also the same reason of why Orochimaru did what he did…' Jiraiya thought.

"Would you like to go, then? Away from Konoha?" Jiraiya proposed silently. That received the blonde's attention as he saw his figure shifted.

"I was planning to take you on a training trip, anyway. Tsunade already gave her permission. All we have to do is to report and have one last check on your condition. After that, we're free to go," Jiraiya said as a slight smile adorned his face.

When he finished, Naruto is already staring at him wide-eyed. "When?" Naruto asked.

"Whenever you're ready," Jiraiya answered. Naruto soon out from his bed and standing on his feet.

"Can we go now, then?" he asked hopefully. Jiraiya nodded.

"I'll meet you at the gate," Jiraiya said simply.

Naruto then took his jacket from the wardrobe inside the room and wears it before he jumped from the window to the rooftops, jumping to his apartment, leaving Jiraiya to himself. Jiraiya then sighed.

"Better tell Tsunade-hime soon," he muttered as he also jumped through the window. But, unlike Naruto, he took the regular road and walk in more leisure pace.

"I wonder if she'll beat me up when she hear this…"

Back at his apartment, Naruto is packing up some necessities for the trip, putting everything inside his backpack. He brought some clothes, all of his ninja utensils, and some other personal things.

Suddenly, his eyes darted toward the dresser not too far from him. He opened the bottom drawer and pulled something from inside it. In his hand, he is holding a picture, Polaroid picture, and a pair of blue hairclip.

It was a picture of a woman with short, bleached blonde hair, and beside her is a girl with chestnut-colored hair, no older than 7. He looked at the picture with a longing stare.

He neatly folded it to four parts before putting the picture and the clip inside his orange jacket and continued his previous activity. Just when he's packing up his last thing, he accidently knock a table and then a sound of glass breaking can be heard. Startled, he turned to the source, to see a frame on the floor with glass scattered near it.

He stops his activity and takes the broken frame. In it, there's a picture of his team, Team 7. His eyes then softened, before he peels the picture out from the frame and neatly put it inside his backpack. He turns to the window after he wore the backpack and jumped out of the building.

In the middle of his way, he passed the Ninja Academy, and saw Iruka from behind the window. He then decided to stop by, to say a goodbye, at least.

Iruka, Tsunade, and Jiraiya, are the only group of people he can truly trust now.

He then knocks the window twice. Iruka then turned to him. A look of surprise was apparent on his face when he saw Naruto, with bandages all over him.

It seemed he forgot to take them off back in his apartment.

"Naruto!" he exclaimed before he opens the window.

"Hi, Iruka-sensei." Naruto grinned before he jumps in to the classroom. Iruka then stood aside, letting him pass through the window. Iruka went back to his desk and continue his work while Naruto went to the seat at the front row, in front of Iruka's desk. A comfortable silence washed over them. All that can be heard in the room is the sound of pencil against the desk.

It has been a while since they were together like this.

"I've heard about Sasuke," Iruka suddenly said, breaking the silence. Naruto turned to him then. He already expected Iruka to know, so it wasn't a surprise. "I presume that your injuries have something to do with that," Iruka said again.

"Yeah, you're right," Naruto said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. Iruka suddenly put his pencil down and fold his arms in front of his chest, staring at the blond. The said blond suddenly felt intimidated under Iruka's gaze, which felt like he was seeing through his soul.

"Tell me Naruto," he said. "Are you planning to leave?" he asked. It seems he realized the backpack behind Naruto's back. Naruto hesitated, but he nodded anyway.

"Yeah, Ero-sennin asked me to go for a training trip. It won't be too long, but not short either, I guess. Maybe for a year or two… maybe even three years," Naruto replied. He tried to make his tone sounded enthusiastic, but it came out in a forced voice. Iruka seemed to notice that, since he looks down to his work again.

"I'm here only to say goodbye…," Naruto continued with calmer voice. He looks down, since he's afraid to see those eyes again. "I'll be leaving after this, so…"

"Naruto."

Iruka suddenly called him, cutting him off. He looks up to see Iruka gazing at him sadly.

"Do you still believe in me?" Iruka asked suddenly. Naruto nodded slowly, but surely. Iruka smiled softly. "Why?" he asked again.

"Because you believed me," Naruto answered equally. "You've seen the worst of me, anyway. So… if you still believed me after all that… if you still believed me even when you knew what's inside me… How could I not trust you?"

"I see…," Iruka said. "Then, why is it different with your friends? Why can't you trust them?" he asked again. Naruto didn't answer right away, but still, he answered.

"They don't know about it yet, Iruka-sensei," he said. "If Sasuke, whom I thought understood me the most, can still leave me, how can I be sure that the rest won't leave me too once they knew?"

"Are you sure they'll do that?" Iruka asked back. Naruto stayed silent.

"You do know that they'll help you and risk their lives for you, right?" Iruka pushed again. Naruto bit his lips then, as his eyes closed.

"But, it was because they don't know me as the host of Kyuubi," he retorted. He knew that his friends would help and really cared for him but…

Iruka then sighed and bowed his head down.

"Your training trip… Will you ever come back?" Iruka asked. Naruto slightly shakes his head. "I… honestly don't know," he answered with all honesty. "I… don't want to be here for a while… So, I don't know. I may, or may not come back… I don't have anything else to come to, anyway," he said bitterly.

"Then, how about if you come back to me?" Iruka suddenly said. Naruto looks at him with an expression of surprise on his face. Iruka then lifted his face and stared at him.

"I'll wait for you here. When you get back, I'll treat you dinner then. I promise, so you must come back, Naruto," Iruka said as he showed him a smile, a true, yet a sad smile.

Slowly, Naruto's gaped mouth turned to a soft smile. His smile then turned to a full blown grin.

"As long as you'll treat me, I'll be sure to come back! I'll see you then, Iruka-sensei!"

With that, he leaves a relieved Iruka behind as he jumped out the window again towards the gate. Iruka is the one and only person he has said good bye to, except Tsunade, who was waiting for him at the gate together with Jiraiya, before he left the village for unknown time.

But, he'll come back… As long as Iruka is inside the village, he will.

No matter how long it takes.

~|To Be Continued|~

Sapphire09: I'm back with a new story! This story has been hanging in my comp. far too long, so I decided to revise this and upload this!

And I decided to do this when none of my stories are finished yet! wow, how irresponsible, right?~

*sulk*

Anyway, I was planning this as a crossover with a totally different kind of manga from Naruto, Fruits Basket! (I know, I know. It'll turn out weird... Sheesh, I made this right after I finished reading Fruits Basket, so BAM! The draft was born...

That was then, but now I wanted your opinion. Should I cross this with Fruits Basket, or should I not? There will be a few possibilities...

If I cross this:

1.) Naruto will end up in the Sohma's house. How? Which one? Main House? Shigure's House? It's for me to know and you to read out.

2.) None of the character in Fruits Basket shall know about the Ninja World (except for the select few, and I mean select few). Why? Because it's a Ninja World, 'nuff said.

3.) There will be no cross pairing! The most that perhaps and may, happen, are friendship and family (or family-ish) bond.

4.) Should I mention more, there will be no need for you to read it...

If I don't cross this:

1.) I'm thinking of OCs.

2.) I'm thinking of a village free of ninja.

3.) I'm thinking of character's (no, not Naruto) death.

4.) I'm thinking of... your ideas.

So, please... The next chapter will depend on your choice, readers! You can vote in your reviews and through my profile. I'll count both, and I'll use the one with most voters. (i.e. in the profile poll, total voter were 10 and in reviews were 9, I'll use the result in the profile poll)

See you next time!