Hi there. Well, here's the second chapter. So far, 2 people have left reviews for me on the first chapter. Now I know this story hasn't been out that long, but I just wanted to say thanks to those 2 people. This one is for you, guys. Hope this new addition doesn't make you change your opinion about the story :)
Anyway, this chapter kinda skips to Sakura and Sasuke, but it mostly focuses on Naruto. Just like in chapter one, this chapter ends with someone running and crying. I'm original, aren't I?
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After a good night's sleep, Naruto's injuries were as good as healed. He stood on a hilltop overlooking the crowded streets of a city. It was a nice place, almost as big as Konoha. He wondered what all of his friends were doing. Chouji. Kiba. Shikamaru. Neji. Fuzzy eyebrows. Had they all made it back safely? Kakashi, Ero-sannin, Old Lady Tsunade. Were they still looking for him? But most of all, he thought about Sakura. Then again, he always thought about her. He just couldn't get her desperate face, tears flooding down her cheeks as she begged him to bring Sasuke back.
"The only person who can bring him back is…Naruto…only you."
He clinched his fists."No matter what," he thought, "I'll get Sasuke back and make her smile again."
He started down the hill towards the city. He had already ran through the checklist of things to do a thousand times in his mind. First and foremost, he needed basic essentials such as food and water, as well as a pack large enough to carry everything but small enough not to slow him down dramatically. He needed some new clothes. He would be instantly recognizable by any Leaf ninja if he was wearing the clothes he had on now. He had already discarded his Konoha headband into his pocket. He couldn't afford to be seen with it by any of the locals if his friends came looking for him here. But, he also didn't want to have them thinking he was dead.
He walked through the streets, searching for stores that sold the things he needed. Suddenly, he stopped, his eyes staring at a huge sign that read "World's Best Ramen". He started to drool when the smell of freshly cooked noodles reached his nose. But he shook himself out of it.
"No! I have to buy what I need first, then I can eat!" But he breathed in another whiff of the delicious fragrance.
"But, it smells…so…good…" He slapped himself back to reality. "If I pig out and eat here, I might not have enough money to buy everything I need!"
The owner of the Ramen shop watched from behind the counter at the strange blonde-haired kid standing in the street. When the boy had caught sight of his shop, he started to walk towards it. But then he stopped, only to start heading towards it again a few seconds later. Then, the kid slapped himself hard enough to make his cheek bright pink, and now he was slowly shuffling his feet away from the bar. What the hell was he doing? The man turned to check on his cooking Ramen. When he turned around again, the boy was once more walking to him, his steps small and slow. Just as he reached the stool and was about to sit down, he took off sprinting down the street screaming, "No, I can't!!"
"Weird kid," said one of his customers, who had also been watching the boy.
"Yeah," replied the chef, "he must drive his parents crazy."
After his little incident, Naruto went and bought everything he needed except for his clothes. He was now in a shop, browsing their outfits. The shopkeeper patiently waited as he went from one rack to the other.
"You guys got anything in orange, lady?" he called.
"No, sorry."
He kept on searching through the clothes, when suddenly he came across a long cloak. It was light tan in color, and it had a big hood. He tried it on. The bottom reached all the way down to his calf, and when he wore the hood it hid his eyes. It was a perfect disguise. He bought it along with a pair of black pants. Out in the alley, he threw his old clothes in the dumpster. He put on his new pants and slung his cloak over his shoulders and around his back. It covered his entire body. If it were black, didn't have a hood, and had red clouds on it, it would be exactly like the Akatsuki robes.
"This is something that Shino would wear" thought Naruto to himself.
Pleased with his disguise, he headed out of the alley, but right when he turned the corner, he ran into someone. The impact was enough to knock both of them off their feet.
"Hey, you okay?" Naruto got up and offered his hand to the stranger.
"I'm fine. It takes more than a freak in an alley to stop a courier ninja from delivering his packages!" said the man.
"Whaddya mean, freak!" Naruto yelled, his fist raised in anger. "Wait, did you say courier ninja? What is that?"
"That's correct. I am a courier ninja. People hire us to make deliveries for them."
"I see. Well can you deliver something for me? It's important."
"We, the courier ninja, cannot refuse a person in need of our services!" claimed the man.
Seeing his opportunity, Naruto gave the man his package for delivery.
"I'll see to it that this package makes it to its destination quickly and safely!" said the courier, who took off running.
Naruto watched as the man disappeared in the crowd down the street. "Now," he said rubbing his stomach, "where's that ramen stand?"
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Sasuke entered the dimly lit room. He could barely see the outline of the man sitting on the far side.
"Sasuke-kun. You were wise to come here. No one can give you the power that I can."
"Naruto," Sasuke blurted out, "he has a power that rivals the 2nd stage curse mark. What is it?"
"Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. When I'm done training you, that nuisance will be an ant for you to step on. And so will your brother, Itachi."
At the mere mention of his name, Sasuke's eyes grew red with murder.
"Fufufu…I can see you are as eager as ever to kill him." Orochimaru said, in his creepy, snake-like voice. "Tell me now, Sasuke-kun. Are you willing to do anything to see your brother dead?"
"Yes."
A sinister grin grew across Orochimaru's face. "Then come, I have much to teach you."
Orochimaru rose and led the way out of the room. Sasuke, his silent shadow, followed him out. He would follow Orochimaru anywhere, as long as in the end he saw his brother's lifeless, bloody corpse on the floor below him, just as Itachi had once stood over the bodies of his dead parents. Revenge. That's all he had now. That's all he needed. It was the only thing he ever wanted since that fateful day. He lived vengeance. Breathed vengeance.
"I AM vengeance" he thought coldly. The two of them continued down the long, dark corridor, their footsteps echoing out into the emptiness. But not only that, Sasuke could hear the footsteps inside of him, reverberating into the vast emptiness that filled his stone heart.
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Sakura was in her room, where she had been since the day before. Her parents and friends were worried about her. She hadn't eaten anything since she heard the news. In truth, she didn't feel like eating. She didn't feel like moving. She felt helpless. Sakura had all but laid her feelings for Sasuke at his feet, and yet he refused to stay. Then, when she had no one else to turn to, she broke down crying in front of Naruto, begging for him to bring Sasuke back. Now because of her, he was gone as well. She was pathetic. The one she loved unconditionally rejected her affection. The one who tried so hard to win her affection had grown to be the person that she was most comfortable around and understood her most. She had always been a burden to them. They always had to save her on missions. She never did anything for them in return. Sasuke was lost in the darkness of his past, and she was unable to help him. Naruto was selfless and helped her whenever she needed it. She relied on him for everything. And now…
She sat up. This is what had caused everything in the first place. She always cried, not strong enough to face her own problems, so her two teammates had to come and save her every time. But crying like this wouldn't bring them back. Her teammates needed her now, and she would give it her all to help them. She looked out her window. Somewhere out there, Sasuke and Naruto needed her.
"It's about time I paid you guys back for everything you've done for me."
She picked up the picture of the three of them together with Kakashi. It was the day that they had first become a team. Laying around crying wouldn't help them, but of course she couldn't help but feel depressed over her friends. Putting the picture back, she sighed. The first step was to get out of her room. Taking a deep breath, she turned theknob and opened the door.
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Finishing off his sixth bowl of ramen, Naruto sat back in his chair happily. It wasn't quite as good as Ichiraku, but Naruto suspected that was because this place just didn't have the warm, homely feeling to him that Ichiraku had. Thanking the chef, he paid for his dinner and was about to leave when he heard the name spoken: "Orochimaru." His head shot around to the two men sitting in the corner, and he leaned in for a better listen.
"Really? No wonder people stay away from him."
"Yeah, I heard he used to be one of his top subordinates: a master ninja."
"That crazy old man? You believe all that rumor and nonsense?"
"It's no rumor. The man was a dangerous criminal, I tell you. Still is."
"Oh, bullshit. Everyone is just scared because he lives by himself out by the graveyard. The old man is harmless."
Naruto walked away. It may have not been very credible, but he had already gotten a lead to Orochimaru's whereabouts. There was no way he could just let this slip by. He was going to have to pay this man a visit.
The graveyard wasn't that hard to find, and once he found it the man's house was easy to see too. Naruto went around and looked through all of the windows. No one seemed to be inside, and he didn't hear any noise coming from inside either. He opened one of the windows quietly and crawled inside. No sooner had his feet touched the ground, though, a knife went whizzing by. He felt the cold metal barely graze his eyelashes.
"Who are you? Why are you sneaking around and breaking into my house?" a voice came from somewhere in the shadows.
"So you really were a ninja before you came here, am I right?" Naruto stayed crouched down, unable to locate his enemy.
"The way you move. You're a ninja too, though not a very competent one. Who sent you here?" the voice seemed to be coming from every direction. Naruto figured he must be using some technique that his whereabouts.
"No one did. I came here looking for answers about Orochimaru."
"Never heard of him. Get out or else the next knife won't miss." The man's voice was threatening and harsh.
Naruto couldn't see his enemy, and he wouldn't be able to see any kuani thrown his way until it was too late. But he bravely defied the voice.
"I'm not leaving until I know whether or not you worked for him."
"What makes you think I'll tell a brat like you anything?" Another knife skimmed the top of Naruto's hair.
Naruto scanned the two kunai that had been thrown at him. Judging by the angle that they were stuck in the wall…
"You're getting deaf, you old fool. I told you I'm not leaving!"
A knife hit Naruto square in the chest. He burst into a cloud of smoke. Four clones jumped out and grabbed the assailant, knocking him to the floor. The real Naruto switched the light on.
The old man struggled. "Shadow clones!" he grunted, "but I was watching you from the beginning, when did you have the time to replace yourself with the clone?"
"That one that came through the window was a clone from the start. Once you were focused on it, I had my other clones sneak in without you noticing."
Naruto smirked. "I guess I never realized it, but when a clone is destroyed, everything it saw comes back to me. That clone you hit with your knife had figured out your position. Once it was destroyed, I knew where you were too."
"Hmph. Maybe you're a little better than I gave you credit for. But this doesn't change anything. I won't tell you anything about Orochimaru."
"Ah, but you just admitted that you know something. So now I can't let you go!"
The man cursed, realizing he had made such a careless mistake.
"I-it's not something I'm proud of, kid. I left Orochimaru a long time ago."
"Liar. You're just trying to save your ass aren't you! You slipped up by telling me you knew who he was, and now-"
"No, it's true" the old man insisted, "I just couldn't put up with that man's tactics anymore, so I left. You have no idea how much I regret hurting so many people."
"You didn't seem so hesitant to put a knife in my chest a second ago!" Naruto said.
"What was I supposed to think? You were sneaking around asking about Orochimaru!"
Naruto punched him. He only stayed standing because the clones were holding him up.
"Tell me where he is!"
"Please, believe me. I never had anything to do with that demon for fifteen years."
Naruto punched him again. "You're going to tell me where he is, you bastard!"
"Please…I don't know!" wailed the man.
Naruto pulled one of the kunai from the wall. "Tell me where Orochimaru is and I'll leave you in peace."
The old man looked into Naruto's eyes. They were dark, now, and intense. "I just don't know, young man, I just don't know."
Naruto drove the knife into the man's shoulder. He screamed out in pain.
"Just tell me where he is, damnit!" Naruto punched him again in the face.
"I don't know!"
"Lies!" Naruto, without removing the blade, dragged the knife slowly down into the man's chest.
The old man screamed out. "Please…please don't do this, I swear!"
"Grandpa?"
Naruto heard a shriek of horror coming from the stairway.
"What? There's another one here! How could I have missed-"
Naruto's thoughts were cut short when he saw a little boy standing there, eyes filled with tears.
"Grandpa!" The child gasped and ran to the old man.
"No, stay there!" the man called out.
Naruto looked at the terrified look in the child's eye. He looked down at the man. He was bleeding all over the place. His eyes widened, he pulled the knife out, and his clones disappeared and the man fell to the floor. Naruto looked at the blood on the knife. He let it drop to the floor, his hands shaking.
"I…was I going to…"
The old man was breathing heavily on the floor, his hand over the large gash in his shoulder.
"Bleeding…from me…" Naruto couldn't think clearly.
The little boy had ignored his grandpa's warning and rushed at his side.
"So…angry. This isn't what I…"
"I'm sorry!" Naruto yelled, running out the door, "I'm so sorry!"
He couldn't stop the tears from falling as he ran. Was he willing to resort to this in order to find Sasuke?
"No…" he thought, "that's not me. I just wanted to ask him…"
Unable to sort through his feelings, he kept on going. He was running from what he had been about to do, from the eagerness he had felt to cause the man pain. He was running away from the look on the little boys face and the screams of agony that left the old man's lips. He was just running, as fast as he could.