Naruto leaves on a night that is thick with summer air and loud with crickets.
She carries a simple backpack through the village, full of summoning scrolls that contain not only weapons, but clothes and toiletries. Naruto is prepared for an extended stay. The muted but steady crunch of her sandals lulls her into her mind where she runs over the past couple of days.
Naruto recalls the first time she heard the gossip, out of the mouths of a couple nameless jounin.
The first jounin, who had recently returned from a short vacation was in the process of making suggestions to his friend, who was weighing his own options. " You could go to Kyujitsu," says the first," although, while I was there, I heard some funny things." The second cranes his neck towards the other, urging him to go on.
On a roof close by, fingers reach up to scratch through short blond hair and a whiskered cheek rests in the other hand.
"I heard something about that missing nin from here and his thugs frequenting that place." That missing nin.
That afternoon, Naruto finds herself outside of Tsunade's door whining for what seems like an eternity, before Shizune opens it, causing her to fall face-first on Tsunade's sake-stained carpet. Rising to her feet, Naruto boldly proposes having a month long break. Tsunade snorts and asks her just what, exactly, she plans to do during that time. Travel, Naruto responds and offers no further information. When Tsunade says nothing and goes back to writing, Naruto bites her lip and squeaks out, "To Kyujitsu." At that, Tsunade throws her pen down and Shizune sucks in a breath. Tsunade stares at her for a long time, saying nothing and Naruto notes how heavy the air is. Just when she thinks she is shit out of luck, Tsunade lets out a clipped "Ok" and picks back up her pen. There is no obvious dismissal, so Naruto looks to Shizune, who returns her uncertain expression and gives her a gesture to leave.
Naruto gets halfway down the hall before Tsunade yells, "If I go a month without hearing from you, Naruto, I'll send my anbu to come after you." Naruto feels the swell of anxiety rush through her and takes the nearest window as her exit.
Rapidly approaching steps bring her out of her thoughts and Naruto whips around to see pink and feel pain on the right side of her face. Glancing up, she sees angry green eyes, coupled with a scowl that can only be," Sakuwaaaaa, all you ever do is injure me. I thought you were a medinin!" Sakura's eyes narrow as she watches the blond stand back up, brushing dirt of her side. " You're just going to go? What if you run into trouble there? How could you not tell me?" Naruto considers answering each question individually, but settles on muttering," I'm sorry Sakura. I should have told you." She sees the other literally deflate, shoulders shrinking down, but not quickly enough before she blurts out," But you would've flipped out! I mean, whenever I mention being spontaneous-" This comment has the opposite effect, causing red to spread back up to Sakura's face and into the pink of her hairline. " Naruto! This isn't just a matter of spontaneity! For God's sake you're gonna be dealing with you-know-who!" It's just like that and Naruto loses her temper. "You mean Sasuke? Why have you taken to calling him that? You're starting to get like some of the jounin around here!" Naruto knows this is a low blow, having spent years with Sakura ignoring others' careless comments. To compare Sakura with them and seeing her face fall makes Naruto regret having ever said it. Sakura opens her mouth and closes it, only to openit again and say, "Here," there's a rectangular container in her hands as she brings it forward. "Tsunade told me to give you this. It's a fairly new communication device." Naruto takes it but doesn't open it. Instead she stares at Sakura. She is still in her medical uniform and her hair is pulled back. Tsunade must've called for her right after her shift ended. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm just fucking nervous."
Sakura heaves a sigh and leans her head back to look at the sky. Possibly keeping tears from falling. "It's fine. Just…don't start keeping things from me. It drives me nuts." Naruto mutter another sorry. "Look, how long have you even thought about this?" When the blonde doesn't answer, Sakura's lips thin before she says," Exactly what I thought." She looks off to the side and shakes her head. Naruto looks away as well and expects more preaching, but gets arms wrapped around her and hair tickling her face. "Just promise me that you don't do anything too stupid and obviously dangerous. If things get out of hand, you better try your hardest to let us know." Naruto brings her own arms around Sakura's smaller waist. " Thanks, Sakura. You're a really great friend." They are simple words but they are genuine. Sakura pulls back with a congested sniff. " Whatever, Naruto. Now get the hell out of my sight." Just like that, she turns around and stiffly walks away.
Naruto grins and thinks that her friend is becoming more like Tsunade, everyday.
She doesn't particularly have a problem with that.