This is a sequel to my previous story, Reversal. I suggest that, before reading this, you read Reversal first, since otherwise, a few things won't really add up. Or, if you don't feel like reading all 31 chapters, go ahead and try and read this first, though it may prove difficult to follow. [
Inuluvr
--------------------------Sakura gazed up at the brilliant blue sky, watching as puffy clouds drifted lazily to the east, past the newly risen sun. A fall breeze combed through her hair, and she sighed, turning to lean on the railing of the bridge. Watching the small stream below, she let her thoughts drift with the wind. She thought back to when Team 7 had been a 3-man team, before Orochimaru, or any other ninja had gotten in the way of their friendship. It seemed to have been forever…
It had been almost a year, since all three of them had shared their last adventure; since her teammate had drawn his final breath. She, Naruto, and many others had mourned Sasuke's death, and as time continued, their opened wounds of the cut friendship had begun to heal. Except, perhaps, for Naruto. He had returned to his normal, giddy self, but occasionally, Sakura caught a slight flash of sadness in his eyes, or noticed a brief moment when the smile faded from his face. However, when she saw those sudden emotions, she would take his hand, or smile sadly at him, letting him know she was with him. He then would smile back at her, and usually laugh his seriousness off as daydreaming. But Sakura knew better, though she never said anything.
Lately, however, these moments of sadness had been haunted by another emotion, one she couldn't quite place… She had noticed a decline in his normal behavior; he seemed to be less responsive, and his eyes, normally flashing with excitement, had been dull recently, and she had noticed that worry was beginning to crease each of his smiles. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but knew better; he would never tell.
Sakura looked up to see Sai walking towards her. She smiled as he drew near, greeting him politely, and he responded with a superficial smile, followed by a nod of the head. He leaned on the rail opposite of her and reached in his pouch, withdrawing a sketchbook and a pencil. Situating himself, he began to sketch, knowing that it would be at least an hour before Kakashi arrived to give them their mission. He would glance up periodically at Sakura and the bridge, so she decided to stay as still as she could, guessing he was using her as a model, as he often did.
Several minutes passed, and except for the occasional chatting villagers that passed, the only noise was the wind passing through the trees, rattling the leaves, and the scratching of Sai's pencil against paper as he continued to work on his picture. Sakura began to worry, however, as Naruto did not appear. It wasn't normal for him to be late, especially when they were supposed to have been assigned a B-ranked mission. Sakura slid her head slightly, testing to see if Sai needed her head to be still. When he did not respond to her movement, she turned her head completely to the left, watching for her teammate.
For a while, nothing happened, and Sakura became apprehensive. However, just as she was about to say something to Sai about it, she saw a familiar blonde walking slowly down the street, his head bent, kicking up small clouds of dust as he dragged his feet. As he drew near, he looked up at Sakura and Sai, greeting them both, before settling himself next to Sakura, leaning heavily on the railing. For a moment, none of them spoke, and Naruto yawned, closing his eyes.
Sakura looked at her teammate worriedly, noticing the dark circles under his eyes, and his slumped position. He seemed very dazed, and unfocused; characteristics that were very unlike him. She studied him more, taking mental notes on his unkempt appearance. He opened his eyes again, and met hers, noticing that she had been staring at him.
"Sakura-san, is there something wrong?" He spoke in a very worn voice, and looked at her with glassy eyes. She shook her head and sighed.
"No… it's just… are you ok? You don't look well." His eyes flashed the mysterious emotion briefly, but he forced a smile, and let out a dry laugh.
"I'm fine, Sakura-san! Though, I feel I may be coming down with something. But that's ok! You're here if I need anything." Sakura returned the fake smile, then gazed back up at the sky, still worried about Naruto.
That emotion he had flashed so quickly just moments ago, it was the same emotion she had noticed haunting his eyes more than once, but as she realized what it was, it was unexplainable. It was a flash of fear. Sakura wanted nothing more than to just ask him what was wrong, to help him overcome whatever it was, but she knew if she asked him, he would wave it off as a figment of her imagination. He was always like that, so obstinate and stubborn, and all to protect others from feeling the pain he went through.
Sakura shook her head, and looked back down at the street, noticing the crowds in the village had thickened as the sun had risen higher in the sky. Sai pushed himself off the railing, and tore the picture he had been working on out of his sketchbook. He walked over to where Sakura stood, and handed it to her, smiling as he spoke.
"I read once in a book that giving people presents that relate to something they like will make them more willing to be friends." Sakura looked at him, surprised, then peered curiously down at the picture he had given her, while Naruto continued to stand with his eyes closed, not paying attention to anything that was happening.
"I noticed you were feeling relaxed when you were looking at the sky and the stream." He motioned to the stream below.
"Sai! This is… beautiful!" She studied the picture in her hand; a sketch of a stream, weaving through the roots of several large, blossoming cherry trees, their petals slipping to the ground. "Thank you, Sai! It's breathtaking!" She gave him a friendly hug, and he nodded to her, smiling back. "And Sai, you don't have to give me anything, I'm your friend, no matter what!"
"Ah, but I'm not giving it to you… not yet." He took the sheet from her, and rolled it up, sticking it in his pouch like a scroll. "It's missing something… but inspiration needs to hit, and Kakashi is here, so I'll finish it later."
And surely, a few seconds later, Kakashi appeared on the bridge, greeting them with a casual 'yo'.
"You're late!" Sakura shouted at the silver-haired nin, as he laughed guiltily.
"No, no… you see there was this beautiful woman I met on the way, and she asked me to dance. And being the great man I am…"
"You liar!" Sakura glared daggers at him as he finished his excuse. She opened her mouth to yell another accusation, but stopped herself as Naruto pushed himself off the railing and came over, hunching slightly as he walked.
"What's the mission, Kakashi-sensei? I'd like to get it done soon, so we can go home quickly." Sakura turned to Naruto. She had never heard him this unenthusiastic about a mission. Kakashi shot a questioning look at Sakura, but she shook her head slightly, showing that she was as confused as he was. Kakashi looked worriedly at Naruto, and noticing his sickly appearance, questioned him. Naruto shrugged the questions off as though they were nothing, claiming that he was feeling slightly sick today. Kakashi sighed at his vague responses, and continued with the mission.
"Well, as you all know, we were supposed to be assigned a B-rank mission, but it was cancelled, so we have the day off." He turned to Naruto. "Relax a little; why don't you three go for some ramen?" He smiled beneath his mask, and disappeared in a puff of smoke before any of them respond. Sakura smiled.
"That's a great idea! Let's go, I'll even pay!" Sai shook his head.
"I'm not permitted to do anything other than missions, so I will be returning home, now." And Sai too, disappeared in a brief puff of smoke. Sakura turned to Naruto, and smiled warmly at him.
"Well, then, I guess that just leaves the two of us?" Naruto looked at her, his cerulean eyes unfocused and forlorn.
"I suppose…" Naruto began to walk off, when Sakura lightly placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Naruto…. Won't you tell me what's wrong? I can tell something is troubling you…" Naruto turned and shook his head, not even attempting to hide his fatigue.
"It's nothing, Sakura…" She held onto his shoulder firmly.
"Tell me." Naruto tried to push off her hand, but as they struggled, he suddenly crumpled to the ground in pain, blood dripping from his mouth. Sakura, terror-stricken, knelt beside her fallen comrade and tried to help him, though soon, he had fallen unconscious, blood still dripping from his mouth.
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Naruto opened his eyes weakly to see a pink-haired kunoichi standing over him, worry filling her emerald-green eyes.
"What happened…?" He managed to ask, his vision still blurred from sleep. Sakura's voice cut sharply into him.
"I was going to askyou the same thing." Naruto could hear an edge to her voice, and as he watched, she moved stiffly, applying a cold cloth to his burning head. "It's not everyday somebody completely healthy falls to the ground, coughing up blood, and ends up in the hospital with a high fever." Confused, Naruto shook his head.
"A high fever? What do you-"
"I mean exactly what I say… you've been out cold for a few hours now, and neither Tsunade nor I could find anything wrong with you… I was worried sick!" Naruto, rubbing his head, blinked in surprise, feeling his head burning. "Now, I expect you to tell me what's wrong, since I know you're aware of what's going on." Sakura looked at him expectantly, her hands placed on her hips as she waited for a response.
"Sakura-san, I'd rather not talk about it…"
"Too bad, Naruto. I want to know, and I'm not going to let you out of here until you tell me what's wrong!" Naruto held his head in his hand, trying to stop the headache that had begun to haunt him.
"Sakura… promise you won't say anything… no matter what." Sakura hesitated, then nodded, knowing that it would be ok if she knew at least, what was wrong. "Alright, Sakura…" He sighed, hiding his eyes from her. "It's the seal… it's acting up. It's never happened before, but… something must have set it off…" Sakura felt a gasp catch in her throat.
"B-but I thought-"
"Yeah, I thought the seal was inactive, too… but apparently not…" Sakura looked seriously at Naruto.
"Let me see the seal." Nodding, Naruto lifted his shirt slightly, revealing his seal, a series of red marks encircling his navel. She brushed her fingertips against the seal, and found it burned as she came in contact with it. He winced as she touched the seal. "Naruto… we should tell Tsunade…" Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"No. I don't want her to know. I don't want to put her through my problems." He pulled his shirt back over his navel. "And I don't want you to worry about me." Sakura nodded, lowering her eyes. "Now, I want to go home-" Sakura opened her mouth to speak. "You can't keep me here."
Naruto stood, swinging his feet over the bed and walking to the door, meeting with Sakura's anxious eyes.
"Sakura, I'll be fine, don't worry!" He left her with a smile, and he headed back to his apartment.
When he arrived, it was dark, and as he unlocked the door and turned on the light, he felt another wave of fatigue overcome him. He collapsed onto his bed, closing his eyes briefly, before getting back up to turn off the light. He decided to skip dinner and head right to bed, feeling sick to his stomach. And so, he closed his eyes, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.
Naruto's eyes snapped open as a large hand closed around the side of his head, slamming him into the wall.
"So, you're the jinchuuriki, hmm?" A low male voice echoed through his head as Naruto tried to sort out what was going on. "You really don't look like much to me." The man swung his arm, slamming Naruto's head into another wall, before letting him fall to the floor.
"Who… the hell…?" Naruto managed to choke out, as blood welled in his mouth. The figure picked Naruto up by the throat, pinning him to the wall.
"Heh… you don't remember me?" He paused briefly. "No… I suppose you wouldn't… Not that it matters." He tightened his grip on Naruto's throat, and the young blonde reached his hand weakly to the fingers that held him fast.
"Why aren't you waking up, brat?" Naruto, losing consciousness quickly, tried to pry the fingers from his throat, though he froze as he felt the man's other hand reach to his seal.
"I see… he's farther gone than ever… I suppose it'll take a little more than some encouragement to wake him up." He looked back up at Naruto's face, meeting with his eyes. "Heh, any time now, kid. Just give up now, and make it easier on yourself." And Naruto's vision began to blacken, as he fell into a cold unconsciousness. He heard one last sentence, however, before his world was enveloped in darkness.
"Alright, Kyuubi. It's time to come back."
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And there you have it! The first chapter to the sequel of Reversal! I hope you guys enjoy!