What Does It All Mean?

Part I, Chapter II: Out of the Blue

They had set out not too long ago. They had walked almost 10 miles past Konoha's gates by the time the sun was high, moving west. Sakura thought it was a little suspicious. One jounin and 3 chuunin walked in front, then Kino, herself, Naruto right behind her, Chouji right behind him and another chuunin in the back. All Kino held was a treaty, right? Why so many ninjas? She read over her briefing many times but perhaps she wasn't told everything; maybe there was more information in Naruto's scroll that wasn't on hers.

The surrounding area was absolutely quiet and Sakura glanced behind her shoulder to Naruto. He was looking around, surveying the area as they made their way through the forest outside of the village. At the corner of her eye, she could see the air around him change. He wasn't that little boy anymore. He wasn't that obnoxious, snot-nosed brat that starved for attention. He already got it; he got Konoha's attention. Not just because of the Kyuubi, not because he grew in the image of the Fourth, but because of his strength. He was one of the Eight Leaves, a group of young men that exceeded greatness. Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neiji, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Uzumaki Naruto were the new group of ninjas whom the youth of Konoha looked up to. Never was there such a group so publicly praised since the Sannin, almost 50 years ago.

Sakura's eyes darkened. There should have been another member but he left the village long ago.

Naruto looked forward and noticed she was looking at him. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and then gave her a silent broad smile.

Sakura realized some parts of him would remain child-like. Just as she faced forward, she saw Obi, who was at the front, raise his hand, causing the whole group to stop moving. All the ninjas pulled out a kunai, and held it in armed position. "Stay close, Kino-san," Sakura muttered. A faint 'whiss' weaved through the air and a kunai landed on the ground behind Kino's ankle. He screamed in pain as blood seeped down his back ankle. He collapsed on one knee, clutching his injured left leg.

"Kino-san!" Sakura exclaimed.

All seven ninjas circled the diplomat and Sakura, enclosing them in a closed circle. "Take care of him!" Obi ordered.

An eruption of shurikens filled the sky. "Ambush!" one of the Konoha ninjas yelled.

"I… I can't feel my leg!" Kino exclaimed.

Sakura's mind began to run. His sciatic nerve was cut when Sakura managed to get a closer look. "Please hold still, Kino san! This will take a little time."

"I don't have that much time!" he hissed through his teeth angrily, clearly in pain.

"I will go faster if you can hold still," Sakura pulled out a scroll from her vest and threw it open. She smeared ink in spirals on the paper and placed it under Kino's foot.

"Kage bushin no jutsu!" she heard Naruto yell.

She formed a seal with her hands and concentrated her chakra in her palms. She forced it out of her hand and into his cut. She could feel the chakra as it molded the internal nerves together, followed by the vessels and then the flesh.

"Five to go," a hiss said to her ear as suddenly an arm held a kunai to her neck. Sakura didn't blink.

Then, she saw another hand grab the enemy's hand. "Duck!" she heard. She crouched over as Naruto pulled the enemy's hand and stabbed his kunai in the ninja's collar area, accidentally missing the heart. The ninja fell back and Sakura jumped forward into Naruto's arms. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded, slightly shaken. "I think--."

"AAGH!" someone screamed behind Sakura. They turned and saw Kino being carried away by the injured sound nin. He leaped into the canopy branches and was obscured by the vegetation. Within a few seconds, a figure made its way towards the ground and Sakura slid on the forest grass, cushioning the figure's fall by catching him. She looked down and gasped, horrified at what laid on her lap: Kino's pale face, mouth and eyes open slightly with his head snapped 180 degrees in the other direction.

Naruto hurried to her side and grimaced the moment he looked down at the corpse. He felt the man's pockets, realizing they were empty. "Damn! The scrolls!"

"Naruto, they're just treaty--." She watched him shake his head. So her suspicions were right; there was more to this mission. Naruto jumped into the trees and headed in the direction in which the enemy left. "Naruto, wait!" she called.

"Where is he going!" Obi snapped at her.

"I don't know," she answered. "I think he went after them. He said the scrolls are gone."

"Shit," Obi cursed. "What the hell is he doing, going alone! Akimichi, Haruno, tend to these men!" and he chased after Naruto.

Sakura looked behind her shoulder and watched Chouji gently pull out a senbon needle from a companion's back, then help him sit up. Sakura proceeded to shut Kino's still eyes and laid him gently on the ground to nurse the others.

The other ninjas that lay unconscious on the ground were alive but only just. Their bodies were punctured with needles and kunais and blood was trickling out of their ears and eyes. Sakura's lips trembled as she looked at the condition of the men before her. Kino was dead, three ninjas barely alive, one ninja injured and only Chouji, Obi, Naruto and herself in mission condition. Although, it was not as if she was any help…

"They'll be okay, right?" Sakamoto, the young chuunin sitting next to Chouji, asked. "You'll help them, won't you?"

"I'll do what I can here. I don't know if there is any permanent damage," Sakura answered.

"Do your best, Sakura," Chouji encouraged. "They're in your hands, so they'll be fine."

She smiled and nodded. Chouji helped her pull the weapons out of their bodies and they tossed them to the ground. Sakura pulled out a scroll, threw it open and performed seals to speed the coagulation of the blood. She could feel her chakra slowly slip from her body as she closed each bleeding orifice of each ninja.

She spent fifteen minutes stopping the blood when the three heard noises. Quickly, Chouji stood up and pulled out a kunai, ready to protect everyone. However, Naruto and Obi were the ones that descended from the trees.

"Naruto!" her heart quickened, maternal instinct kicking in. "Why did you go out there alone? You could have gotten killed!" She wanted to scold him and shake some sense into him. She couldn't believe his 'act before I think' habits were still in effect after all this time. What happened to the careful planning of a jounin? However, she shut her mouth when Naruto's eyes were cast to the trees he just left. It was as if a furious tempest erupted in his eyes, with confusion, grief, hurt and anger swirling in his pupils. "Naruto?" she murmured. "What happened?"

Obi had covered Kino's torso and face with his jacket and carried him in his arms. "We're heading back. This mission is over. Each of you, take someone with you. Akimichi, can you take care of two?"

Chouji nodded. He draped one body over his shoulder and helped Sakamoto walk. Sakura and Naruto each helped the other ninjas to their feet, draping an arm over their shoulders. Slowly, they made their way back to Konoha.

It was evening when the group reached the gates of the village. Obi hollered for assistance and a few chuunin guards approached. "Call the medical nin. Bring these men to the hospital," Obi ordered a chuunin. He scurried away to phone for help as Sakamoto, Kino's body and the three other ninjas were laid on the ground right against the wall of the entrance.

Sakura could tell something was on Naruto's mind. She even knew Chouji picked up on his unusually quiet mood when he asked what was wrong. "Yeah, Naruto, what is it?" she asked.

Naruto had been looking at the horizon outward of Konoha, and then looked over to Obi and the others. He motioned them to follow and they stepped a few yards away from the entrance on the outside. "I think…" he peeked between Sakura's and Chouji's shoulders to make sure no one was listening. "…I think I saw Sasuke."