Naruto: Her Secret
Hey all; glad that your reading chapter 2 of my story, let me know your thought and if I make mistakes feel free to point them out, I gotta learn to fix shit right :3
This is a Naruko adventure.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…..or Naruko…BUT WANT TO! XD
Chapter 2: The Chase
The morning was quiet in the village hidden in the leaves. The people were rising just as the sun was. People walked from home to markets starting their day. Not a cloud in sight and everything seemed normal.
Over in the west part of the village a lone house stood at the edge of the old Uchiha compound. It was a two floor house and larger than most. The sun was just starting to rise over the second floor, shinning its light into the windows. In the third room Sasuke was awoken by the sun shining in his face.
"Tch, morning already?" he said as he rolled over putting his arm over a slumbering Sakura. He watched as she slept soundly with a steady rhythm of her breaths. She faced him and he just studied her sleeping face. With a steady hand he brushed a strand of hair out of her face. He smiled before he slowly sat up. Careful not to disturb her, he slide out of bed and grabbed his clothes from the floor. He headed for the wash room down the hall and shut the door.
Sakura woke up as he shut the door to the room. Without moving she watched the sky outside the window. It looked like it was going to be a clear day she thought as she stretched. She turned over so she was looking up at the ceiling and put her arms behind her head.
"We should do something today, we hardly ever get days off like this. Maybe we can invite Kakashi and Naruko too, been too long since we last all did something together." She thought to herself as she listened to the noise of the village from bed.
Finally deciding to get out of bed she drew the covers back and grabbed her undergarments from the floor. Once she had those on she grab a robe and wrapped it around herself; once fastened she headed down to the kitchen. Opening the fridge she checked to see what they had. Not much, just enough for a light breakfast.
"Huh, gonna have to go shopping later I guess." She said grabbing 3 eggs and the milk.
Setting the eggs in the sink and the milk on the counter she grabbed a pan and started cooking. As she was making the eggs she opened the cubord to get cups for the milk. When she did she noticed one of the three cups they had was cracked. Picking it up she remembered when Naruko had gotten them for her and Sasuke when they had first started going out. They were blue, red, and orange, to symbol their team Naruko had said. It was the orange cup that was cracked.
"That's odd. How did you break?" she wondered.
Two arms reached around and grabbed her around her waist, startling her causing her to drop the cup and having it shatter all over the floor.
"Opps, sorry about that; thought you heard me coming down the stairs." Sasuke apologized picking her up and moving her away from the broken glass.
Still in the air she giggled "Sasuke, I need to clean that up."
After setting her down he grabbed the broom and shook his head "I got it, I scared you after all." He bent down and started sweeping up the mess.
"Thanks" she said still thinking about the cup. "Hey hun?"
"Hmm?" he said without looking up.
"Was that cup broken?"
As he got up and moved for the trash he shrugged "Don't think so but doesn't really matter now. We can grab another one later."
She nodded but still had an odd feeling, but not knowing what it was she went back to her cooking.
Sasuke headed for the door, slipped his sandals on and went outside. As soon as he did he was blinded by the sun for a minute. He shielded his eyes with his hand as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the day. Once he could see again he moved to his mail box and pulled out a paper, turning to head back Sasuke notice something above his house. It was a small brown bird. Lifting his hand to the bird it flew down and landed in his palm.
"A summons to the Hokage eh? Got it." He said lightly tossing the bird back into the air. He watched it fly off then headed back inside.
As he entered the kitchen he could smell the eggs and was disappointed that they didn't have time to enjoy the breakfast.
"Eggs and toast are about done." Sakura looked to Sasuke who was leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. "Whats wrong?"
He sighed and moved to sit down "We don't have much time to eat. We just got summoned to see the Hokage." He took a sip of milk from his blue cup.
Turning back to the cooking eggs and grabbing a plate "Well dang, I was hoping to get some shopping done this morning. Hopefully its nothing and we still have the rest of the day." She scooped the eggs onto the plate then set it in front of Sasuke.
"Thanks." He took a bite and another drink "That would be nice, but knowing our luck we have another dumb mission that needs immediate results."
Sakura nodded as she washed her hands in the sink and chugged the rest of her milk. "Ok, well then let's get changed and head out."
Sasuke finished the last of the eggs, nodded, got up and dropped his plate into the sink then headed upstairs with her. As they headed up the stairs her ass was in perfect whacking range, so Sasuke gave it a light smack.
She jumped as he hit and made a little noise, then ran the last few steps turned to him rubbing her rear end "Hey now, none of that!" she said with a playful tone.
He smirked "You didn't seem to mind last night."
"Ooooh you." She said turning and going into the room. He just smiled and followed. There they changed into their Jounin uniforms and grabbed their gear. Once everything was set they made their way back down, with less flirting this time much to Sasuke's discontent.
Once they had locked up they made their way into the street and started heading for the tower; Sasuke with his hands in his pockets and Sakura with hers behind her back as she watched the sky.
They walked in silence as they made their way forward just enjoying each other's company. Sakura watched the sky, then the people around her doing their usual thing. Mothers watched their kids playing, as they scampered in and out of the walk-path, grandparents sitting on their front porch reading books; everything seemed normal, but for some reason, Sakura couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong. She glanced over at Sasuke who seemed tense. She wondered if he noticed it too.
"Hey Sasuke, is it just me or does something seem off today?" she asked throwing her arms up and around her head as she watched the people around them.
Not stopping but looking around more Sasuke nodded "Yeah… ever since I got up this morning actually, something has just felt off. Like, it's too quiet or something. If we were in the field I would say that it smelled like a trap, but here and now…"
"I agree. I didn't really notice till we left the house but your right. It's no different than normal, but it seems quieter." She continued to watch people as they passed and wonder what was nagging at her but no matter what she thought of she couldn't put her finger on it.
The rest of their walk was silent as they both tried to figure out why everything seemed off. No matter what they saw of the normal village they had grown to love, everything had this quiet, silent, dull feeling to it; like everything was hollow.
As they neared the Hokage tower Sasuke spoke up "I don't like this, whatever it is somethings wrong. Let's get going, maybe the Hokage has noticed this too."
Sakura nodded and they broke into a run. When they reached the tower they didn't stop even when the entrance secretary yelled at them to. They just kept running, right up the stairs and to the office door of Lady Tsunade.
Sakura reached to knock on the door.
"WHERE IS SHE? WHY IS SHE GONE!" the voice from the office startled them a bit.
Sakura looked to Sasuke "Iruka-sensei?" she whispered. He nodded. They both scooted closer to the door to hear better what was said.
Inside Iruka Umino had his hand slammed on the Hokage's desk looking at her with great anger. She sat on the other side chin on her hands as she calmly faced the anger of the well-loved chuunin teacher.
"As I already said Iruka, she is gone, and at the moment to where, I do not know." She said calmly trying not to provoke the man, she knew he was upset, I mean so was she but she had had time to simmer.
His face contorted with anger as he clenched his fists crushing something under his hand and walk away then back "When I woke up this morning I found this on my front door." He said holding up a crunched up an envelope.
Tsunade sighed and lowered her head so her eyes weren't visible "I'm sorry that's how you found out."
Iruka just shook his fist "NO! I don't care that this is how I found out I want to know WHY I HAD TO END UP FINDING OUT AT ALL! WHY DID YOU LET HER GO!?" in the corner of his eyes small tears were forming but they didn't fall, he wouldn't let them.
Without raising her head "Iruka as Hokage I am force to make tough decisions; decisions that are in the best interest of the village as a whole. Don't you dare think this wasn't one of them! I can't act on personal feeling every time I want to. Letting her go was one of the hardest damn things I've ever had to do. But considering the alternative I don't regret the decision." A single tear fell from under her hands to the desk.
On the other side of the office door Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other with confused looks. Sakura mouthed the word "Who?" to Sasuke. He just shrugged his shoulders, but in the back of his mind he had a bad feeling about this.
Iruka noticed Tsunade's tear. His arms fell to his side and he looked down at the floor. He was so full of emotions that he was acting out, like a damn child, he was ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry Lady Hokage, your right. I let my emotions run me."
She looked up at him with a small but warm smile "I wouldn't expect any less from one of the few people who truly knows her. You're like a father to her you know?"
Behind a closed door two young shinobi were looking at each other with wide eyes as a fear entered their minds.
Iruka brought the envelope up to look at it and Tsunade "Yeah. I know that. I know that a lot better now." He held the envelope close to his heart. "She said a lot in her letter, but most of it was how she really appreciated my support and care, that she would miss me scolding her." He gave a light laugh "It's funny, I never realized how often I scolded till this morning, after I read this. She went on to say sorry for not giving me a proper goodbye and then a farewell; that she would really miss her scolding father."
He wiped a couple of tears away from his face as Tsunade smiled "That was pretty sweet of her."
"Yeah…" he looked back at her with a now calm face "Did Naruko at least say why she was leaving?"
At hearing their fears confirmed both Sakura and Sasuke burst into the office "WHAT!" They both yelled rushing up to the other two.
Iruka jumped back a foot with a shocked look as Tsunade was now sitting straight up in her seat and trying to figure out when the two had started eavesdropping.
Sakura was at Tsunade's desk both hands flat as she stared at her master "What happened to Naruko?!"
Sasuke stood in the middle of the room hands clenched waiting for an answer, when one didn't come right away "Where is she?!"
Both Tsunade and Iruka looked at each other then just stayed silent looking down defeated.
"Master!" Sakura said with anger, why was she staying silent thought Sakura.
Sasuke looked at Iruka, then to the letter he held; Sasuke's eyes went cold.
"Naruko has left the village." Said a voice from the window.
Everyone in the room startled; looked to find Kakashi sitting in the window, one leg holding him in place, the other hanging out the window; his arms were crossed over his chest while he looked out at the sky.
"Kakashi." Tsunade and Iruka said.
Sakura didn't say anything because she was frozen by the words he had spoken.
Sasuke took two steps towards Kakashi fists still cleanched "What does that mean?"
Slowly Kakashi turned his head to look at Sasuke, his gave was solid and cold "It means exactly what I said. Naruko Uzumaki has left the Hidden Leaf village."
Sasuke knew what that meant from experience, but couldn't accept that, he rushed Kakashi and grabbed his vest by the collar and left him slightly "NO! You're lying."
Behind him Sakura finally unfroze and quickly went to Sasuke, putting her hands on his arms she had him lower Kakashi. She looked at to Kakashi with a hopeful look "But she's coming back right, she going away for training or a mission or for fo…"
Sasuke cut her off "No, it's in his eyes, Irukas letter, tone, Tsunade's demeanor, everything. She left, and she's not coming back." He turned away from Kakashi unable to look at anyone.
Sakura finally understanding what was being said slide to the floor. Her best friend, who had struggled with her through hell and back, had left them. Sakura remembered last night at Ichiraku's, all the memories they had talked about; laughed about. How when they had left that night she wouldn't look at them as they left. This was like when Sasuke had left all those years ago, a piece of her soul felt like it had just died. A single tear slide down her cheek, but she was too numb to notice.
Sasuke crouched down next to her and hugged her shoulders. He too felt like something had broken inside him. He remembered back when his clan had been killed; the rage and sorrow, it was the same feeling. He had lost a part of his family again.
Looking up to Kakashi, Sasuke asked "What happened? Why did she leave?"
Kakashi looked over to Iruka and Tsunade, Tsunade nodded.
He sighed not wanting to reveal his failure but he had no choice, not in this matter.
"Well.." and so Kakashi told everyone there what had happened between him and Naruko after she had run out of the office last night. Though he did leave out the part about why she had left. Since he only suspected what it was he didn't feel it was his place to say. When Kakashi finished his part Iruka retold his story about waking up and finding the letter on his front door that morning, then rushing here and confronting the Hokage. Finally Tsunade told her about her actions last night and the choice she had made.
Sasuke and Sakura were silent trough out the entire tale and when Tsunade finished, Sasuke stood up and just walked to the window next to Kakashi and looked at the village.
Sakura still sitting on the floor didn't look up but asked "Why Master? Why give her a mission and allow her to leave. Why…"
"Sakura you of all people should understand why. She came to me, mind made up and determined; and once that girls made up she's stubborn to a fault." Tsunade looked to Sasuke. After a moment she leaned back into her chair and looked at the ceiling "When she told me that she would leave no matter what I had to make a choice; Let her leave or try and stop her."
"Why not stop her?" Sakura mumbled.
Tsunade didn't even look down and was about to answer but Kakashi beat her to it "Sakura, if we had tried to force her to stay she would have run, maybe even getting violent. Though I doubt she would do any great harm to any of the villagers, but still trying to stop Naruko; that's no easy task now a days. Or have you forgotten how strong she has really become?" He paused for a moment to let that sink in "If we had tried, we would have had casualties. And she hasn't become a rouge shinobi either."
Sakura looked up at this, looking confused. Kakashi sighed, had the shock scrambled her brain?
Sasuke took over from there, still looking out the window "With the mission Tsunade gave her she has free rein to go anywhere for however long she needs without the village having to mark her as a missing-nin. When a shinobi leaves their village, especially ones as strong as her, they are marked as a rouge and put into the bingo book with a hit reward for their life." He looked down at Sakura "This way, at least she doesn't have a death sentence over head while she out there."
Finally coming out of her shock a bit Sakura got up nodding.
They all stood there letting the situation sink into their skin until Sasuke walked over to Tsunade "But you don't know why?"
She shook her head "No, she wouldn't tell me. Iruka, do you have any idea?"
Sadly he too shook his head "I haven't even seen her in a while, been too busy with the exams and all."
"She's been troubled by something for a quiet a while now but I figured she would talk to me or something before she did anything rash." Kakashi said
Sakura turned to her sensei "What was it?"
Kakashi hesitated "I don't know exactly what was bothering her, just that she seemed off." he lied. He had a pretty good idea why she had left, but he still didn't think it was his place to tell others.
Sakura got quiet again but Sasuke looked back at Tsunade with a look of fire in his eyes "Lady Hokage, I request a favor."
Tsunade's eyebrow lifted "And what would that be." she said with a smirk knowing full well what he was going to ask.
"I would like a mission to retrieve the female BAKA known as Naruko Uzumaki." Sasuke said with a straight and serious face. Everyone else in the room got a grin on their face, all except Tsunade.
She closed her eyes thinking when she opened them "As much as I would love to give you that mission I don't think even you guys ca…"
"Hold on." Kakashi inturupped.
Everyone looked to Kakashi.
"Everyone here except you Lady Tsunade, Naruko tried to avoid last night. That being because she had to tell you or you would have been in a tough spot politically. I'm sure she knew you would make the choice to let her go and therefore came to you, but the rest of us, if any of us had been there to stop her, I'm guessing she wouldn't have been able to go. The only reason I let her go was because of what I heard in here, otherwise I would have argued with her all night. If Iruka had been there I feel the same could be said, Sakura and Sasuke even more so."
Tsunade thought about Kakashi's words, they made sense. Naruko avoided anyone that could have made her change her mind.
"Damn kid had been planning this for a while huh?" Tsunade asked
"No doubt, for her to go through with this she needed time to work up her courage. Had any of us beside you tried to stop her last night, I doubt she would have left; or at least her courage to do so would have been shattered." He looked to Sakura and Sasuke "Out of all of us here, I think Sasuke and Sakura have the best chance to get her to come back willingly."
Sakura was starting to look pumped up, determined. Iruka had a hopefull look on his face and Sasuke nodded, agreeing and coming to the same conclusion as Kakashi.
Tsunade smiled, liking the explination, and for her it was more than enough to send out an army to retrieve the baka kunoichi. But if these two had a better chance than an army…
"Sasuke Uchiha! Sakura Haruno!" Tsunade yelled as she stood up suddenly and firmly.
"Ma'am." They both said together standing in front of Tsunade's desk.
Waving an arm over her desk "You are hereby ordered to take on this S-class mission." She opened a drawer and pulled out a scroll, opened it on the table and quickly wrote in big letters: BRING THE BAKA NARUKO UZUMAKI BACK HOME! She rolled the scroll up, tied it, and handed to Sakura "You bring that Baka back you hear." She said smiling. Iruka had a big grin while Kakashi smiled from underneath his mask.
Both Sakura and Sasuke smiled and nodded "Yes ma'am!" and without another word ran to the window and jumped out toward the village knocking Kakashi over.
"Whoa!" he said as he fell into the office. He laid there, his legs up against the wall. He had his eyes closed as he prayed to God that everything worked out. He hoped he didn't make a mistake by sending them.
A minute later -Roof tops of Hidden Leaf village-
Sasuke and Sakura jumped from roof to roof headed for the village gate. As they moved their smile from being excited to be going after their friend turned to grim looks as they thought on the question: why did she leave in the first place?
"Sasuke?" Sakura asked with her eyes grim.
"Yeah I know." There was no need to say it. They wanted to know but neither knew anything for sure; that's when Sasuke stopped and thought of another important question.
Sakura stopped, turned to him with a questioning look "What, we need to get moving, she's been gone since last night."
He nodded "But do we have any idea which way she headed?"
Sakura's shoulders slumped "Damn!" she thought for a moment.
Then both of them looked at each other with a small glimmer of hope "Apartment?" they said at the same time. Nodding they rushed off to Naruko's apartment in hopes of finding some clue as to where she was headed. After a few moments they landed on the roof of Naruko's complex then made their way down to her door. When they reached it they hesitated; what would they find inside, everything gone or everything in a mess as she normally left it?
With a determined stare Sakura took a breath and twisted the doorknob; it was unlocked. The door swung open and both of them saw something that they just didn't expect. The room was clean and in order, something that they both couldn't ever remember seeing. Moving into the apartment they saw that everything was in order. Furniture was neat and organized, covered with white cloths, floors were vacuumed and mopped, and it even smelled fresh, the ideal clean. But there was nothing personal left; no pictures or trinkets; Sasuke walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, there was nothing inside and it had been wiped clean.
Sakura was at the table, clenched onto the chair, her grip turning her knuckles white and cracking the wood slightly. "This is wrong. This is not a home its… nothing."
Sasuke moved from the kitchen to stand next to her and put a hand on her shoulder "Come on, we need to check around."
Sakura nodded but as she did she noticed there was something on the table, two actually. They were envelopes with names on them; Sakura and Sasuke.
The two of them reached for their individual letters. For a moment they could only stare at them with a far off look in their eyes. They both opened their letters and began to read:
"Dear Sasuke,
Hey there teme, hope thing are going well for ya. Ya ya don't start with me, I know that this is all probably one big annoying pain in your ass right? Sorry bout that. By now I've left the village and I'm sure you're at my place looking to give me a scolding. Glad I'm not there for that, hehe; but in all seriousness I am sorry this was how our goodbye had to turn out.
Sasuke, do you remember when you left the village and I swore that I would bring you back, no matter the cost? Because of that struggle to get you back I became a lot stronger. I won't say that it was a good thing that you left, because it wasn't, but if you hadn't I wouldn't have become so strong so fast. But if I could change the past I would still rather you had never left, then our team could have all grown stronger together. It would have been one hell of a time. That's one thing I miss Sasuke, all those times we spent together as kids, Sakura, Kakashi, you and me; we were one hell of a team even if you wouldn't admit it. When you came back to the village and I was able to get everyone to accept it, I was the happiest person in the world; strike that last statement, Sakura beat me in the happiness, but I was definitely second. I want to thank you Sasuke for coming back; and thank you for being with Sakura, she really missed you and loves you; I hope you can see that. Try not to take her love for granted ok. She has great strength but she still needs you there by her side.
As to why I'm leaving, let just say that I have something I have to face, and even with all my strength, I can't face it, not there in the village at least. Maybe one day I can return my demons defeated; till then, please take care of the village and Sakura. And once again thank you.
Your eternal friend and rival
Naruko Uzumaki"
Sasuke finished reading the letter but couldn't bring himself to say anything. What was there to say? Looking over Sakura was still reading her letter.
"Dear Sakura,
I know this will be hard for you and I am truly sorry for this. I had hoped to tell you goodbye in person but relized a while back that I just couldn't do it. So I wrote these letters to those of you I cared about.
First off, I want to assure you that I'm not going rouge. Well at least that's my plan. I'm going to talk to Lady Tsunade in hope that's she gives me her permission to leave, if she doesn't… well let's not get into that. Just know that no matter where I am I will still be loyal to the Leaf, I'll never betray the village. Never. I'm sure you're asking yourself and others why I left, well I'm sorry but you're not going to find an answer, sorry. I have my reasons and I'm going to have to just leave it at that.
I'm sure your pissed off as hell right now and to tell the truth I glad I'm not there to get thrown through a wall… or five by you, hehe. That would really hurt you know Sakura, maybe try not to be so chrakra filled when you hit folks, ok? But when I think back of all the time you smacked me I laugh. We went through so much together chasing Sasuke and saving the village. I can't remember a time when you weren't there supporting me and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Without your support I know that I couldn't have gotten up after some of the things we went through.
About that support you gave me, I think it's time you pass it on to Sasuke. I'm glad that you are finally with him; but I want you to remember he left. It caused unrest with people and even though he's back I'm sure people will still have a hard time accepting him completely. I'm sure you know this but he would never ask for help, but he's going to need it even if he doesn't admit it. So please give Sasuke all that support that you once gave me. And again thank you. Goodbye.
Forever your teammate and friend
Naruko Uzumaki"
Sakura finished her letter and let her arms fall to her side. She had so many feelings mixed up inside right now she didn't know which one to let out; sadness, anger, confusion, laughter over memories, pride in her friendship? There was just so much.
"Anything on where we can start looking?" Sasuke asked.
She shook her head "No, and nothing on why, just a thank you and a goodbye."
"Yeah, same here." Sasuke said folding up the letter and placing it in his pouch. Sakura did the same with hers. They moved on and kept looking for anything that could lead them to their comrade. Sasuke took to going through Narukos scrolls next to her TV while Sakura went into the bed room. Looking around she felt like she was in a stranger's home, or maybe a hotel room ready for new guests.
Sakura sighed. Looking around she found nothing until she looked at the bed. There was something under the pillow. She reached under and pulled out a book with the Leaf symbol on the center. Curious she opened to the first page. She felt a breath escape her. It was a diary; Naruko's diary.
With haste she shut the book. Not wanting to invade the privacy of her friend. But then the events of the day came flooding back to her. Sakura looked at the book, unsure.
"No choice, sorry Naruko." she said as she turned to the end of the written pages. She flipped through the pages looking for the last few entrees not wanting to pry into too much of her friends secrets. When she found the last three entrees she began to read. As she read her eyes became larger and larger as some of Naruko's secret became clear to Sakura.
"Oh Naruko you baka." she said with a sad whisper.
"Find anything?" Sasukes voice came from the other room, startling her, causing her to slam the book closed and hide it behind her back.
"Nothing about where she went in here." Sakura called as she slide the book back under the pillow.
Sakura join Sasuke back in the living room "Nothing?" he asked with a look that said he too had found nothing. She just nodded.
Sasuke sighed "Maybe we can ask the gate guards, they might have seen at least which way she was heading."
Still distracted by what she had read Sakura just mumbled in agreement.
"Sakura?" That's when they heard the door open. Both jumped a little and looked to see Kakashi walk in.
"Yo."
"Sensei, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked glad for the interruption.
He walked in looking around "I figured that you would have a hard time getting started, so I came to offer a little assistance."
"You mean to offer my assistance." Said a gruff voice.
Pakkun then jumped from behind Kakashi and landed on his shoulder.
"Oh!" both Sasuke and Sakura got the idea right away.
"You're the best sensei, oh and you too Pakkun." Sakura beamed. Kakashi just smiled as Pakkun rolled his eyes as he hopped down and started to sniff around.
"He'll stay with you for about two days at max, enough to give you a direction at least." Kakashi explained.
Pakkun popped his head up "Alright, got a good scent now, we can head out whenever."
Sasuke gave a small smile and headed for the door with Sakura and Pakkun close behind. Kakashi watched them go without a word.
As soon as they were outside all three burst into action and started for the gate. Sasuke let Pakkun take lead then yelled out "Let the chase for the big baka begin!"
Hey guys hope you enjoyed this chapter and sorry this one took so long been a bit busy. Glad that people are liking the story tho. Please leave comments and reviews :3
