CHAPTER 1 The usually cheerful blonde, lacked of mirth, as he sat on his plush armchair, in his office.
Instead, the young Hokage had an ill-fitted grimace etched upon his handsome countenance. His booming boisterous voice was now replaced by an eerie silence.
Almost an assemblage had gathered before his table, newly bought, scattered with a pile of papers and documents. He knew all of them, from numerous missions and socializing in his free time. Naruto was, in fact, acquainted with most of them very well.
A gloomy, melancholic atmosphere had dawned upon the room.
A sense of dread and betrayal filled everyone's hearts, especially Naruto's.
Not a word, a hug, a goodbye. Was he really not worth a simple fucking goodbye?
All she had to do was ask, and he would let her go. Yet again, he was left behind, abandoned, like always. Was he not important enough to be bidden farewell? Did he not mean enough to her? Was she…
His deep thoughts were interrupted. A faint cough had been initiated by a silver-haired Jonin, waiting to be acknowledged. His happy demeanor was amiss. His eyes did not crease, as they always did, when he smiled charmingly. His beloved book, with a familiar orange cover, was not found in his gloved hands. It was blatantly obvious that something had gone terribly wrong.
"Yes…So, did you dig out something that might be quintessential in finding Sakura-chan and her kidnapper?" he exclaimed faking a high-spirited tone, pathetically attempting to ease the tension brewing, always the clown of the class. "I am gonna find Sakura-chan and then Kaka-sensei, her and me are gonna eat at Ichiraku's as usual…Dattebayo!" he added, trying to convince himself of the statement. No one rectified the grammatical mistake.
"Naruto…." Hinata sighed gently, ever the one to selflessly love him. She understood him, she felt for him.
Naruto let out a cynical chuckle, standing in sharp contrast with his deep hearty laugh. The lack of the suffix "kun" after his name was cue enough for him.
"You always catch me, Hina!" a blunt reply from the Hokage.
"Naruto…" a tad bit stricter this time around.
He was failing badly, to keep a check on his emotions.
He cleared his throat loudly, to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill, as he looked around at the apprehensive faces of those awaiting his statement – an order.
"What are the stats, Kakashi?" No"Kaka-sensei", Naruto was all business.
"Haruno Sakura, age 17, former head medic of Konohagakure no Sato's hospital, apprentice of Godaime Hokage-sama, is found to be missing for the past week, with no information or revelation about her sudden disappearance. An ANBU squad was sent to bring her back, with or without application of force, but they got thrown off her trail. But, they identified this hitai-ate as her. They also happened to find a note that was purposely left behind by Haruno. A seal has been placed on it, which allows no one but you to open it. But, we fear, it may be a threat to your life, Hokage-sama"
Naruto seemed to be contemplating the information that was broken to him.
"I want to see the note" He ordered.
"But, Hokage-sama…"
"I want to see the note; this is not up for discussion." He ordered firmly, leaving no place to protest.
Kakashi Hatake stared skeptically at his former student, the now Leader of the village.
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" he muttered, and reluctantly.
"It can be fatal, Naruto…You do not know, what will happen if you open the scroll…please don't test fate, two students are enough…truth be told, I want to keep you as long as I can." Kakashi said adamantly, his voice thick with emotions. This rare show of empathy from the elusive Copy Ninja hit home.
"Don't worry, Kaka-sensei… I am quite sure, Sakura-chan hasn't placed any jutsu on this scroll, and I trust her" Naruto said softly.
Kakashi let out a sigh, his eyes hardening.
"Sukororu o hirakimasu no jutsu" Naruto exclaimed loudly, with no hint of hesitation in his voice. So great was his certainty and confidence that his Sakura-chan would not initiate any harm upon him.
He was way too trustworthy, Kakashi thought rancorously.
The scroll rolled open, as the crowd held their breath back.
It was, certainly, Sakura's pen script, with round alphabets, and adorable little hearts on top of "I"s instead of dots. She had picked up this habit from her friend, Ino. The scroll was blotted with teardrops, and messily adorned with ink marks. Naruto traced a hand over the writing. A burst of nostalgia filled his senses, almost, overwhelming him. How he had teased his female team mate for her extremely girly handwriting, completed with hearts and flowers. How he had been on the end of her furious punch, infused with chakra, and profuse swear words that would make a sailor wanting the ground to swallow him – words that would be considered to be extremely "unbecoming" of a lady to utter, had it been the Victorian age. He indulged himself in the reminiscence of the little incidents and the anecdotes, from the time when Team 7 hadn't been disbanded because the members betrayed their village, with a bitter smile on his face.
Unaware to him, a tear had rolled down his cheek as he read Sakura's note addressed to him.
Hinata's eyes softened as she saw her brave, blonde fiancé cry. The others were shooting questioning glances at the Hokage as he kept on reading the scroll, oblivious to everyone encircling him. Kakashi simply tried to comprehend the reason for such reactions, which were invoked by a mere scroll.
Naruto cleared his throat again, attaining everyone's undivided attention.
"Sakura is not going to come back. Too many painful memories are associated with this village. She feels that the blood of many stain her hand, friends, family and foe" he said softly, his long blonde hair hiding his face "She requests me to not announce her as a missing-nin, alleged of betraying her village, as she does not seek to go against her homeland. I wish to accede to her sincere request, not because she has personal bonds with me, but also because, I believe that she had earned it, after all she has done for the village, and everything she sacrificed in the Fourth Shinobi War. I accept that the relationship between me and Sakura might be blinding my judgment to an extent, but, I really cannot deny her of the only requisition she's ever made of me...It's just not in me to do so…Does anyone disagree with the conclusion I have drawn?"
There was a murmur of "No, Hokage-sama" among the elders, except four of them, who expressed their disapproval of involving personal emotion in decisions.
But, their votes opposing the accord were soon overruled, by majority.
"I, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden by Leaves, In Fire Country, son of Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, officially grant Former Head Medic of Konoha Hospital, Haruno Sakura, jonin level kunoichi, the permission to leave the village, without being given the status of missing nin, or a betrayer. Anyone, under my rule, who dares to utter one word against Sakura-chan will get fucking castrated by me, understand?" Naruto stated.
Everyone gaped at the blond jincuriki, not having heard him curse, ever.
"Understand?" Naruto asked with an air of authority.
"Hai, Hokage." The flabbergasted people present all expressed their agreement.
"You were not supposed to say the last part, baka!" whispered a bewildered Hinata, clearly, shocked.
The blonde scratched his head and managed to look sheepish.
It seems nothing ever changes, noted Kakashi.
"What made you so happy?"
"Me?"
"No, Tsunade-sama" was Kakashi's sarcastic reply.
"Oh, well…Sakura-chan says that she may not live in the village anymore, but she'll visit often and send me letters. And when she comes here she and me will go to Ichiraku and we'll have lots of RAMEN!" Naruto almost yelled out, like an over-excited child.
"She and I…not me"
"Oh whatever, Kaka-sensei! And you know, what's an even better news?"
"What Naruto?" asked an amused Kakashi.
"She's gonna return after 2 years, she promised"
"That's good" Kakashi's eye creased slightly as he smiled good humouredly.
"Hinata-chan" The blond enthusiast shouted out, turning to his fiancé.
"And just to think that maybe, maybe, just maybe, Naruto had matured enough to think seriously and that today was a proof of it…but no" Kakashi muttered, the smile still intact.
The shy Hyuga let out a chuckle and the blonde pouted.
Everything was falling back in place, gradually.
Naruto missed Sakura terribly and immensely, yet maintained his happy spirit. That was the second thing Sakura had asked for, to be happy.
As the months passed,
the fake smiles and the fake happiness slowly turned into real laughter, and genuine happiness.
But, there still was a Sakura shaped hole in Naruto's heart that yearned for his surrogate sister, to drink out together, to watch a movie marathon, or to just randomly argue. He used to stay up, sometimes, at night, to just think of Sakura's homecoming. Sometimes, his mind drifted off to Sasuke, and the promise he made to himself and Sakura, the resolution he took, of dragging the bastard back home.
Home – Home, is where his heart lies, Konoha. Naruto worked hard to provide a safe abode for everyone, to build an impervious wall of defense around Konoha, to strengthen the military, and the Shinobi, to improve trade and commerce and international relations between Konoha and other villages.
Everyone naturally took a liking towards this blonde, who always remained a handful to handle. With his playful, mischievous and cheerful personality and lots of jokes, he could lighten up any place he went to, especially the "boring blah blahs" he always grumbled about to Hinata-chan and Kaka-sensei.
"You'll see, Sakura-chan! I am a great Hokage" he whispered to the stars adorning the inky black night sky, like a thousand diamonds. His eyes drooped and he slipped into a peaceful slumber, dreaming of his team mates, Hinata-chan, ramen, Kakashi-sensei's mask and a tapestry of random things.