Note- Thanks for the reviews!
Um… I already know how this story will end, but I'm not sure how it will compare to the manga/anime… Therefore, I need to finish this fic before the manga finishes; that way I can have an excuse when numerous people come after me with bloody chiansaws for creating a story that differs too much from the real thing.
And FYI, the previous chapter took place two years after Sasuke originally left Konoha, and the rest of the chapters take place a year after that. Meaning, a year has passed since Tsunade said, "Uchiha Sasuke...is dead," and now three years have passed since Sasuke originally went to Orochimaru.
Read, enjoy, and please: don't die. It's not healthy.
Eternal Flame
Chapter Two: …And Life.
A young shinobi stood proudly on the ceiling of the tallest building in Konoha, overlooking his hometown and the several people sauntering cheerfully along its streets: the buoyant children laughing and playing, the groups of adults conversing amiably amongst themselves, the men and women taking their leisure afternoon strolls around the block…. And as the young man surveyed the village in which he had matured, all these sudden memories came flooding back like a rapid slideshow, flashing brief pictures of the past in his brain. It was as if he were reliving a memory from his younger years—the days of his amateur shinobi lessons, his experiences with Team Seven, and his seemingly pointless missions…
The towering mountain of the previous and current Hokages was visible at the far end of the small village. The First, Second, Third, Fourth, and now the Fifth all stared invitingly at him, as if welcoming the young man unto their home as the golden sunlight shone down on the village, brightening the mood of its inhabitants. However, the newer aspects of the village which he had never known—changes—new renovations that were unknown to him—surprised him a bit; he had never suspected his hometown to change so.
It was evident from the excessive number of people out on the streets that there were a significantly higher number of residents in the town than before, and interestingly, all of the residents seemed to be in a much more cheerful mood than they had used to be. In the past, there had always been a small element of tentativeness and caution when one person spoke with another, due to the malicious events going on in the surrounding villages—but, as the young man gazed interestedly at the townsfolk, he did not see this caution.
Instead, it was as though a good amount of the surrounding evil in the world had faded, allowing people to dump their wariness and adopt a more outgoing behavior. He had detached himself from the village—and, consequentially, the rest of the world—for three years to train, and now, it seemed, things had calmed down a bit.
The young man's lips curled into a pleased smile as he took in all of the surroundings of the place he had once known and loved. It was a pleasant surprise, being able to gaze at the village and feel so content about the obvious changes it had undergone. He folded his arms with satisfaction.
He could now call himself proud to be of Konoha.
A much older man—white-haired, with aged features—approached the young shinobi, surveying the content look on his apprentice's face. A breeze blew through the atmosphere and produced a whistling noise and a ruffling sound as it made contact with their apparel, while the two men stood, proudly looming over the entire village as through they owned it themselves.
"Ready, Naruto?" the man said, grinning and placing a hand on the sixteen-year-old's shoulder.
The blonde, shorthaired boy nodded firmly, determinedly pointing down at the village in an overly heroic manner, and shouted, "Konoha... I'm back!"
->->-
It may have changed a bit but…it's no different than before! Naruto anxiously leapt from the building and landed easily on solid ground, followed by his sensei, who was taking great interest in watching Naruto's reaction to his old village. "This whole place…it's great!"
Jiraiya smirked, his great white hair billowing in the wind. "You really have matured, haven't you, Naruto?"
But the shinobi was not listening, as was plainly obvious when he began looking left to right frantically, shouting, "What to do first?! We gotta find Kakashi-sensei, see Sakura-chan, go to Ichiraku Ramen… Oh, and I almost forgot about visiting the ugly old hag, Granny Tsunade!! There's too much to be done!" He began hysterically babbling on like an incoherent idiot, the excitement of the situation becoming too much for him.
"… Actually…nevermind," Jiraiya muttered, reminding himself not to publicly spend too much time with Naruto, lest the apprentice unknowingly repel any attractive women from him.
But he did not receive a chance to slyly ditch his apprentice, for the sound of a woman's shoes clicking as they made contact with the ground resonated into his ears; Naruto's incoherent babbling subsided so that he could peer around his sensei's enormous spiky rug of hair to gawk at the woman approaching.
She was clothed in a seemingly comfortable green robe, and her lengthy golden hair perfectly framed her pale face. "Well, well, well," the woman grinned, shaking her head. "I thought I saw you two posing on top of that building…"
"Granny Tsunade!"
Naruto beamed, dashed forward and…tentatively poked her face multiple times with his index finger. "Waaaait… You are 'Granny' Tsunade, right?"
Her grin abruptly contorted into a massive grimace. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?" the Hokage demanded, folding her arms.
Shizune rounded the corner, smiling as if she had heard the beginning of the conversation. "Same old Naruto," she said, shaking her head. "Don't worry," she added, "Tsunade-sama hasn't changed either…"
Naruto stared, confused, at her: the Fifth Hokage he knew was an artificially young, old woman with small wrinkles on her face that were quite noticeable if one managed to take a close enough look at them without being punched by Tsunade. However, this Fifth Hokage looked even younger than before, as if she had recently taken a dive into an ocean of facial makeup. "Eh?! You…look…" He cut himself off at the threatening look on Tsunade's face.
"Young? Beautiful? Stunning?" she responded brisky. "Why, thank you." She then turned to Jiraiya, the smile returning onto her features. "So how've things been for you two? We've missed you for the past few years!"
"Nothing's different," the sennin replied, grinning. Then, he leaned closer to her and Shizune and added, "Been training Naruto all this time outside of the village."
"He looks so mature!" Shizune exclaimed, stunned.
Naruto beamed. "I guess I am! Thanks, Shizune-san!" He pumped a fist into the air proudly, turning to face his sensei. "Isn't that right…," he grinned maliciously, "Ero-sennin?"
The elder man slowly pivoted his head to face the young shinobi and shouted, "HAVEN'T YOU GROWN OUT OF THAT YET?"
"Apparently, the boy has matured more than the man," the Hokage put in, chuckling to herself good-naturedly. This comment resulted in Jiraiya narrowing his eyes and opening his mouth to say something in response, when Naruto suddenly shouted an incoherent exclamation and ran off.
The three adults stared after him as he randomly kicked up dirt and sped off, presumably, to greet someone he had just sighted.
"… strange one, he is," Jiraiya muttered. Probably off looking for Sakura… It was a peculiar observation, but he had noticed that the boy had had an interesting connection with Sakura ever since the Chuunin Exams so long ago. When Jiraiya had mentioned their returning to Konoha, Naruto's first question was whether they would have a chance to see "Sakura-chan," and his second question was whether Ichiraku Ramen was still in business.
The Fifth Hokage nodded, agreeing, and said, "Jiraiya…? Please…don't mind my candor, but…" She looked at him in the eye, a sudden look of gravity appearing. "…during your time away from Konoha, did you manage to come across any valuable information on Akatsuki?"
His features firmed, and for a while he merely stood still as if reflecting on his answer. Then, he shook his head. "Unfortunately…" He frowned heavily. "…no."
There was a pause in which Tsunade glanced at the younger woman beside her.
"Shizune? Could you please…give us a moment?"
The Hokage's assistant's eyes darted back and forth between the two sennins multiple times, as if wondering what in the world the Fifth was preparing to converse with him about. Still, she nodded firmly and did not linger much longer; she left the two sennin standing there alone, staring each other down in an exceptionally grave manner. "I wonder," she mumbled to herself as she ambled away, "what could be so important…?"
Where is she…?!
Sakura sprinted up and down the streets of the village frantically; various passersby stared after her, wondering what the hell was wrong with her, and seemingly debating whether or not she had gone insane. But the pink-haired young woman paid them no mind as she darted from one busy street to the next, searching recklessly for the Hokage.
Where had that woman gone? One minute she had been in her office, and the next…
Sakura's hair blew violently in her face as she jerked around the corner and sprinted down the road. If Tsunade-sensei doesn't show up… She swallowed. …she'll never know about Minori-san…
And if she doesn't know about Minori-san…
But she didn't allow herself to complete the daunting sentence; instead, she sent a surge of chakra to her legs to give her an extra burst of speed, and—
SMACK.
She and two other people collided forcefully into each other, and all three ended up sprawled out on the ground.
"Oh…sorry, I…" But she didn't have time to apologize; the girl was about to cut her apology short and resume sprinting frantically in search of Tsunade, when someone nearby called her name. She looked left and right, but when she didn't see the person who had called, she rolled her eyes. Was there time for such petty games?
"Sakura-chaaaaaaaaan…" the voice groaned again. "That hurt…!"
"What is it, Naruto?! What do you want?" she snapped, now recognizing the voice, and irritably looking downward to realize that one of the people she had run into was the blonde ninja she had befriended three years ago.
There was a pause. Then—
"Wait…" Sakura quickly helped the boy, who was now twitching and sputtering on the ground, to his feet, where it took him a moment to regain his balance. "Naruto!" She wrapped her arms tightly around him, who coughed and choked.
When she had finished violently squeezing the life out of him, Naruto grinned in return. "Sakura-chan! How've you-"
But he stopped and stared at his companion's matured figure: She was now roundly sixteen years old, as was he, and she looked more like a lady than ever before. Her short, pink-colored hair flowed with the wind as she stood there, her eyes glistening. Sakura smiled cutely and looked up at him. "How do I look?"
There was a moment when he merely gawked in silence. Then, he replied, "Amazing! You've changed!"
"I bet you have too, Naruto," Sakura giggled, observing him with interest. "You're so much more…"
"Awesome?"
"No…"
"Cool?"
"Not quite…"
"Sexy?" Grinning hopefully, Naruto performed his infamous Sexy Jutsu, abruptly morphing into a female with such accurate curves and such an innocent smile that almost every male in the vicinity gawked and fell over with a loud THWACK sound.
"HECK NO!" Sakura bellowed, and a loud smacking noise resounding throughout the area as the palm of her hand made contact with his cheek. "I take it back! There's nothing ABOUT you that's changed!"
She glared down at the cringing Naruto on the floor.
"Nothing about whom?"
Naruto pivoted his aching head to face the person who had uttered this, and, to his surprise, four familiar faces stared incredulously back at him: Shikamaru, Lee, Neji, and Hinata. A number of wild gasps and exclamations immediately ensued, and the other person that Sakura had collided into groaned and picked himself up from the ground; he was immediately recognized as Konohamaru. One more gasp occurred, soon followed by another exclamation.
"Well, would you look at that… Hey, Naruto!" Shikamaru grinned, both hands in his pockets. "I was starting to think you had died in your training."
Lee brightened dramatically and beamed, the usual sparkle glistening in his perfect set of white teeth. "Our old fellow shinobi has returned! WE MAY NOW HOST A REUNION OF JUBILANCE!"
He was stared at.
Shikamaru muttered something under his breath sounding like "troublesome…"
Neji merely nodded and smiled politely, and Hinata blushed and turned a bright shade of crimson at her comrade's reappearance. She muttered, "Naruto-kun…" and smiled in a remarkably sheepish manner.
He was stared at for a while, until Konohamaru also beamed, jumped up, and said, "Oi, Naruto-kun!"
"Konohamaru!! How ya been?"
His grin was replaced with a smirk. "I've been practicing a verrry powerful jutsu so I could rival you!" he exclaimed. "Wanna see?" Without waiting for an answer the child performed the correct seals and instantaneously POOF!ed into a slim, curvy, nude female with small puffs of clouds covering her more enticing features.
Sakura growled and menacingly turned to glare at Naruto; the others merely watched silently, interested. "Naruto…" she said slowly. "…WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING THESE INNOCENT ADOLESCENTS?!"
He ended up twitching on the ground after the irritated young woman whacked him with amazing force. "Try teaching THAT to small children!" she cried, towering over him.
The blonde shinobi quickly regained his stature, took in a deep breath—and hurriedly sped away, closely followed by Sakura, who was threateningly brandishing a high heel as she chased him around the entire village.
Lee swooned, watching the high-speed chase with binoculars. "She's even more gorgeous when she's angry!"
Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head with obvious pity. "He's just returned, and already he's being troublesome…"
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Tsunade sighed. "Jiraiya…. You say you haven't heard anything?" she said, eyeing him warily. The man nodded. "Then, tell me…in all this time, have you informed your apprentice of anything that's been impending lately?"
He grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Naruto? Why, of course I have!" he said awkwardly.
There was a silence. Then, the Fifth narrowed her eyes and dryly responded, "…you haven't, have you."
"Nope."
"Then I presume he also knows nothing of Sasuke?"
Jiraiya opened his mouth to reply to this, but decided to approach the answer in a more subtle manner. "I've been training him rigorously for the past three years because I feared that Akatsuki would be making its move some time soon; I had no opportunity to inform him of Sasuke, or anything else." He shook his head. "You know him, he would…stop his training and run off or something. He may have changed, but one's personality and mindset never really changes."
She sighed and, shaking her head sadly, began to walk away.
Before she walked far, she pivoted her head and said, "That's fine…but don't forget what will occur once he learns you've been keeping this from him for a year. I imagine he'll go after Itachi himself."
Jiraiya watched as the Hokage turned back around, casually put her hands in both pockets, and disappeared from view.
"Sakura-chan… What's new with Konoha?"
Naruto and his fellow Team 7 companion sat at Ichiraku Ramen, consuming massive amounts of ramen in such a wild manner that it drew attention from all the way on the other side of the street. Or, rather, Naruto was doing this; Sakura merely watched him with a look of concern, as if wondering where it all went. After having said goodbye to Konohamu, Shikamaru, and the others, the two of them had decided to go to the restaurant.
By this time Sakura had forgotten all about her need to inform the Hokage about Minori.
"Naruto…" she said, looking at the blonde ninja, who quirked an eyebrow.
But she shook her head. "There's nothing new with Konoha," she said, although it was certainly a lie, and the girl new it perfectly well.
He slurped down a ramen noodle. "Then, where have you been for the past year? Ero-sennin said you'd left Konoha…" He eyed her. "…although I doubt it was for training. You look weak." And when she glared at him, he quickly waved his hands defensively and exclaimed, "Sakura-chan! Kidding!!"
She looked down at her food, and suddenly did not feel very much like eating; the girl put down her two chopsticks, staring into the noodles. Then…he doesn't know… she thought, frowning noticeably.
"… Are you going to eat that?"
Without waiting for an answer, the shinobi snatched the ramen from out in front of her and began devouring it himself, leaving no room for conversation.
Sakura rested her head on her hands and sighed. What she had learned a year ago… About Sasuke's death…. After it had been announced, Tsunade assigned a certain mission for her and approximately ten other shinobi to complete; unfortunately they had all returned unsuccessful, which it seemed that Tsunade had been expecting all along. Still, Sakura kept at it; she was now the only ninja still trying to complete the mission that had been assigned to her the year before—and interestingly, Tsunade did not object to it, but actually seemed to encourage it.
She had finally completed the mission this morning, and had found such astounding information on the matter at hand that she had no choice but to relay it to Tsunade immediately.
That was when Naruto arrived.
She had been distracted. Or, more accurately, she couldn't bring herself to tell him the news she had recently learned; instead, the girl had been entertaining him to prolong the inevitable. She knew she would have to tell him…for no one else would.
"Uh… Naruto…" she said tentatively, staring downward in an unfathomable manner.
"Eh?" He looked up, a single noodle of ramen stuck to his lip.
"I haven't told you this, and didn't want you to know yet, but…" She sighed, and forced herself to look him in the eye. "…there was a serious reason why I left Konoha last year." She looked at his baffled expression, and cleared her throat. "I…was on a mission…to find your mother, Uzumaki Minori.
"There was a rumor that she…was still alive and well, Naruto," she continued, forcing herself to look away from him; she couldn't bear to see his reaction. "And… Hokage-sama believes that…Uchiha Itachi has been out to find her for Akatsuki's own purposes."
Finally, the last sentence of her confession was uttered: "And this morning… I found her… I found your mother, Naruto." She paused. "Alive."
There was an elongated silence during which Sakura turned the other way. The blonde shinobi beside her, however, was neither screaming nor fainting. Instead, he merely stared at her incredulously.
"EH?!"
->->-
Author's Note- Thanks for reading, please review, and happy holidays to everyone. n.n;