Echoing Footsteps

By: CagedRaven

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Chapter 3

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Tsunade eyed the young teenager in front of her as he joked about lying down on the chair, even slipped off his sandals so he could be more comfortable.

"Ah," he sighed happily, "It is just like a bed!"

She watched him roll from side to side, coming close to falling off, and sighed. 'I could really use a drink…' The woman thought bitterly as she cleared her throat to catch Naruto's attention. He sat up straight, legs crossed and blue eyes on her as if he had been trained from birth.

"You're not here to play, Naruto." He nodded, "Why don't you tell me what's been going on these last few" her brown eyes glanced at the paperwork sitting on her lap. "months. Kakashi said - that he knew of - he was the first to find out about your problem."

"Yeah, he was." Naruto agreed. "Nothing new has been going on lately, just the same old crap."

"The villagers?"

He nodded again, letting his eyes drop to his hands.

"What are some of the things they do?"

The blonde looked up at her, holding her eyes for a minute and then let them fall again, "You wouldn't understand."

"I'm here trying to understand. You just have to let me in."

Tsunade gave a weak huff of breath when he didn't say anything. She took off her reading glasses and laid them on top of his file on her table. There were many of things she could be doing right now instead of entertaining this brat. Drinking, gambling, and then there were her other physically damaged and mentally ill patients. She looked at him again after rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Naruto, are you so scared of living?" Maybe just asking straight out would be the best thing?

The blonde looked at her, the blue shade of his eyes had turned dimmer and his brows lowered.

"Why are people scared of dying?" Naruto said aloud, answering her question with one of his own. "I mean, most people are scared because they don't want to be forgotten, right? They're scared of feeling pain? So does it make me crazy for not caring if people don't remember me? Does it make me insane because I tried to bring my life to an end a couple of times? Does it make me unstable because I love to watch my blood leave my body - love the feeling of being in the dark?" he was yelling at her now but Tsunade merely picked up his papers when he was done ranting to make some more notes.

"Yes," Her brown met his blue, "That is why you are here."

An empty smile returned to Naruto's face as he rubbed the back of his head. It was as if his real emotions had never spilled out. "I guess so, huh?"

She watched him some more in silence as he babbled on continuously about how hungry he was. Tsunade had a feeling she wasn't getting the whole truth about this case. Perhaps the three men that had told her he was suicidal hadn't exactly hit nail on the head quite yet. Naruto seemed to have many layers.

The older woman looked at her watch and was surprised their session had only a few minutes until it finished.

"You should put back on your shoes, time is up." She smiled.

Naruto returned it, this time the smile had reached his ears. He pulled on his blue sandals and waved happily as he made his way to the door.

"I want to see you next week too."

"What! I have to see you again?" he yelled.

"As many times as I want you too."

It was then that Tsunade saw another layer; Naruto's understanding was clear in his blue orbs. One more set of eyes were going to be watching him.

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The young blonde made his way down the street, casually resting his hands behind his head. His eyes held little emotion as his ears took in the sounds of village life. Naruto daydreamed as his feet took him toward his destination, imaging how his blood would spit into the air if he stabbed himself with a kunai; how the darkness would overtake him once he submerged the wound. Just the thought of it all had him drooling for it; too bad Kakashi sensei took all his weapons away.

"Hello Naruto, what can I get for you today?" The old man named Ichikaru behind the ramen stand asked with a smile. The blonde was his number one costumer and he hadn't seen Naruto around as of late.

"The usual." Naruto returned the smile, sitting on one of the stools.

The man nodded, turning his back to the young ninja as he began making the bowl of noodles. "Have you been on a mission? I haven't seen you around the village."

"…Something like that." Naruto answered, not really paying attention. The blonde began humming to himself, toying absently with a pair of wooden chopsticks he took from the jar in front of him.

'Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it.' Ichikaru thought to himself as he poured the broth into the bowl along with the noodles. He placed it down in front of the blonde and smiled as Naruto dug into the meal. The small eyes on his wrinkled face looked up as someone else walked in and took a seat next to the young blonde.

"What can I get for you, Iruka?" He smiled.

"Uh," He hadn't planed on eating but ordered beef ramen after receiving a glare from the old man. The brunette assumed he could give it to Naruto to eat.

"Iruka sensei, I didn't know you would be here today. Man, you could have let me know, my meal could have been your treat." Naruto said sarcastically, having had a feeling someone was trailing him.

The blonde's old teacher smiled and patted his hair, "Don't worry, I'll still pay." Iruka let his smile drop, contemplating on whether or not he should ask what he wanted to. 'It won't hurt.' He thought.

"Naruto, how'd your session with Tsunade go?"

His blue eyes focused on his old teacher, not in hesitation but in puzzlement. "Isn't that supposed to be confidential?"

Iruka blushed with embarrassment, he had been unconsciously hoping the blonde won't have understood that. "Yeah, I guess that's right."

Naruto filled his mouth with the delicious noodles again and swallowed before cracking a small smile, "Nah, I'll tell you. Although, there's not to tell… She just asked a bunch of question and soon I was out the door."

"That's all?"

"That's all." Naruto nodded, blowing off the steam to his next mouthful.

"Here you go, one beef flavored ramen." Ichikaru said as he placed the hot bowl in front of Iruka.

"…Thank you."

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'You know, Sasuke, you can always close your eyes to things you don't want to see but you can't close you heart to things you don't want to feel.' Sakura thought with a frown on her face, chin held in the palms of her hands as her bottom sat on an uplifted root. 'Why doesn't he pay me any attention? I've tried talking to him; asked him where he and Naruto had been for the past two weeks.' Sakura sighed in exhaustion as the past fourteens days of training all alone with Kakashi sensei invaded her brain. The pink haired preteen had been forced to actually sweat buckets, more than she already did. When the time was up she got home and even fell asleep in the shower because she was so worn out, her favorite red dress and blue cropped shorts were no better.

Pulling her wide green eyes away from her brooding crush, Sakura looked over the blonde, his back facing both herself and Sasuke. His head seemed to be pointed down to his feet, almost like he was thinking. She also laughed right out at that thought. 'Naruto and thinking don't belong in the same sentence.'

A flash of her teammate laying in the rain and muddy grass entered her mind and stopped her next muffled giggle. Had Naruto really been sleeping then? Kakashi's stern words with the blonde didn't make it seem as such.

"Hey, Naruto?" Sakura called out to said boy. He turned around quickly, like he had forgotten he wasn't by himself. She hesitated herself before asking, "Where were you two last week and the week before that?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, letting a huge smile consume his face. "I don't know about that loser but I just wasn't feeling all that well, think it was the rotten milk I drank."

Naruto ignored the peering eyes coming from his rival but Sakura noticed her crush's look.

"I went by your apartment many times though, and you never answered the door."

"I was living on the toilet, Sakura, and when I wasn't there I was on Iruka's toilet." He laughed. Sakura blanched and growled in disgust, looking away from him with her nose scrunched up as if she had smelled something awful.

"What about you Sasuke?" Naruto asked the raven haired boy, distracting Sakura's attention from himself.

"Yes, Sasuke, were you sick too? Maybe a bug's going around…" The blonde could all but see the hearts shifting in her pale forest inspired eyes.

Sasuke ignored her, instead focusing his dark eyes on Naruto. Why had he lied; what could possibly be his reasoning behind it; was he embarrassed? An idea made its way into Sasuke's brain; perhaps his teammate didn't want to seem anything but idiotic and the prankster of the village. Sasuke believed he just walked into Naruto's latest secret, if anything it was blackmail. If he told his teammate about Naruto's attempt at suicide then Sakura would know he had been in the hospital as well. Kakashi had been kind enough to keep it private; the raven haired boy actually enjoyed the time he spent without a girl always watching his every move. It wasn't only that that kept him from sharing the news, but also the fact that he didn't feel like talking, much less about his own problems.

"… Maybe a bug is going around…"

"Oh, I'm going to have to make sure I stay well." Sakura chimed in, standing from her seat and walking a little closer to her crush hoping to pull a few more words out of his mouth.

Naruto smiled wider, turning his back on the two once more and continuing what he had been doing. He watched as his finger nail slid over his wrist repeatedly, causing a pink line to form on his tanned skin. His blue eyes were clouded over once sable red cascaded from the surface wound he created with a jagged edge. Small drops dyed his skin crimson as stinging pain shot from the site. Naruto pushed it away until the pain was barely noticeable, if he had ever really noticed it to begin with.

Just looking at the red liquid would have to be enough for now, no matter how much he wanted to feel the darkness around him. Any drop of blood was swallowed by the green grass before the wound was healed, leaving not a scar in its wake.

'Just in time too.' He thought; hearing a popping sound and smelling the smoke as Kakashi entered their area. The blonde turned to welcome him with a smile, just to through him off, as Sakura glared at his tardiness.

"You're late again, Kakashi sensei!" She huff, gripping her hips. "What's your excuse this time?"

Their teacher eyed his three students carefully and cleared his throat before he spoke, "I was getting the papers you three would need for next week."

So used to shouting at him, Sakura jammed an index finger into Kakashi's masked face and screamed, "Liar!" The pink haired genin didn't even listen to a word he said.

Kakashi brushed her off and pulled out three slips of paper. Sakura was the first to be handed one, then Sasuke, and Naruto was last. The blonde glanced over its words and turned back to his teacher when he began talking.

"This is an entrance from to the chuunin exam, I have already mentioned you would be there but the Hokage will need each of your signatures to confirm it." He continued on, going into further detail about the exam and what it could mean for them but Naruto didn't hear it, and Sasuke barely did. Their thoughts strayed onto two different paths; the former thinking of nothing but the blood he'd see and the chances he'd get to spill his own. The latter's brain was filled with the idea of his strength being great and him getting closer to his one and only goal, revenge. Their diverse paths were made by the anticipation as it coursed through the two rival's veins.

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Naruto walked down the streets of Konoha happily, his already signed slip folded into his pocket with his hand protecting it. He was headed home, fully aware that someone would be waiting for him, timing him. This didn't stop his slow pace today. Any other day the blonde would have been running at his fastest speed, but today was different. Today he wanted to see what he had been ignoring in life.

He didn't give the glares villagers threw his way a second glance, or their children that looked on in puzzlement. Why was he so special? Why was everyone watching him? Why were all the adults' angry? These were just a few of the questions he guess the children were wondering, and they would continue to wonder and question about the topic of Naruto but not one person would receive and answer. All thanks to the law passed by the third Hokage.

Naruto's blue eyes followed the wind blowing stray leaves for fun, and carrying the scent of homemade cooking. His ears picked up on the sounds of distant playing, whining, and maybe even beginners in the ninja world practicing how to throw a punch with a friend. It was something he envied; he had never experienced the things they were now experiencing. The sudden thought rid him of all his happiness; his eyes stung with tears he refused to let fall. Depressing thoughts entered his mind, making a home in the center and all the corners. 'Why me?' he thought, removing his hand from pocket and gripping the loose orange jacket over his stomach. 'Why did I have to house this fucking fox?' he felt a tear seep through his tightly closed eye lids and hated himself more for it. 'Why couldn't it be someone else?'

His hands dug past the thick fabric and into his skin, he wanted it to hurt, to bruise. The blonde told himself the pain was why he was crying, not the lost of a childhood.

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Tsunade gathered the last of her work papers, placing them into a green folder and desk. She grabbed a white lab coat, flicked off the ceiling light and grabbed her ring of keys by the door frame before walking out her office. Making sure to lock it for the night, she walked the length of the hall, the clicking of her heels bouncing off the cream painted walls. She was relaxed but could still go for a drink or two of sake. 'I can't wait to open up that bottle I have at home!' she grinned, about to round the corner.

"Hey," She started, not prepared for someone to be standing there as it had been so quite. She smoothed out her appearance so fast that the person didn't notice.

"Hey, yourself. What are you doing out so late? You should get home, Naruto." Tsunade said, a frown growing. 'Wasn't someone suppose to be watching him, how'd he get here?'

"I'm going now, Iruka has probably called Kakashi sensei and the Hokage by now," since he was hours late, "Their all running around like chickens with their heads cut off hopping I didn't end my life."

Tsunade took a mental note; he seemed to have more to say now than earlier. "Are you so sure?"

He nodded, "Yeah, how do you think I got here without no one seeing, I had to bypass them all. Kakashi sensei was the hardest but I think he still saw me." He grinned at the thought of his moving bush disguise. "Oh, but I just wanted to let you know about one thing. You said you wanted to see me next week, right?"

The curvy blonde nodded, moving her items from one hand to the next and shifted her weight. "I sure did."

"Well, something came up and I can't go."

"Can't." She repeated.

"Yeah, you see Kakashi sensei entered my team into the chuunin exam and it starts next week."

Her brown eyes widened as she took a step back, "The chuunin exam?"

"That's what he said." Naruto smiled weakly. "Well, that's it. I better get the move on before I'm thrown under house arrest or something. G'bye!" He waved his hand as his feet began to move toward the exit she had once been going to herself. Changing her mind, Tsunade walked back toward her office, unlocked her door and pulled out the green folder holding her new case and an old one. Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha they were both on the same team, team seven.

"These two boys don't need to be in the chuunin exam." She exhaled, running a hand through one of her silky ponytails. Should she say something to her old teacher or let it run its course? She stole glances at the blank paper sitting on the edge of her desk, begging to be written on. The woman sighed before grabbing a pen after ten more minutes of contemplating. "I'll write a letter to you, old man. Hopefully, you'll get it by the morning and also pull team seven out of this year's exam."

'In my professional opinion,' she read in her head as she began her first line after greetings. 'I do not see Sasuke Uchiha or Naruto Uzumaki fit for the up and coming Chuunin exam.'

She tapped the pen against the paper, thinking of the best words to make him agree with her. The blonde woman soon gave up and just wrote whatever came to mind (staying clear away from the remembered sake that was haunting her). Her letter was two pages long, explaining Sasuke's mental state and Naruto's still mysterious one. She also added in her opinion on the last team member, whoever it was. If two out of three members of team seven needed to see her then chances were so did the last one.

"I hope you listen to me this time." She whispered to herself, sealing the letter. She put everything back where it had been, grabbed her white lab coat, her ring of keys by the door frame and remember to lock her office for the night.

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TBC…

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A/N: I'm so sorry about the long wait for an update. I had become sick and also studying for my SAT, so sitting behind a computer was the last thing on my mind. I feel much better now and hopefully will be writing more to this story as well as my others.

P.s. I just want to say thank you to all the reviewers who have commented on my story so far, makes me feel great. Thank you to all the readers who clicked the favorite button also.

Quote for Naruto:

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

By- Herm Albright