Authors Note: Hey there. I dont know if I am getting better or worse but I am starting to churn them out. in all honesty though... I am not happy with this chapter. not sure if I am keeping it interesting or not. got a long way to go though. ON TO THE STORY!

Cause For Concern


He started by regulating his breathing. His posture was one taught by the toad masters and allowed him to commune with the natural world. Though the natural world could seem chaotic, to those that understood its inner workings, there was always a symbiotic balance. Destruction would more often than not lead to new creation. Life and death were natural to this world. It was when Mankind entered the picture and tried to change things without understanding how it worked, that it all went to hell. His breathing slowed and he could feel the world's natural energies surround him.

All that time trying to master the sage mode had helped him to calm down and think more rationally. So, now he would put that to good use. Dwelling on hurtful words would not help him. He needed to analyse his situation and find a means to move forward. He was an emotional wreck right now, but just because you are hurting does not mean that the world stops. A childhood of misery and neglect followed by teenage years of war and watching friends and mentors die before your very eyes had taught him this lesson a thousand times.

Ok, time to put it all into order.

Fact: The world was at a current state of peace and understanding.

Naruto may have been one to boast about how great he was but that was just his mask to hide his deeper insecurities. If others saw how great he was then maybe he would see it himself. But even he had to give himself a metaphysical pat on the back for his involvement with that one. He was not foolish enough to say that it was ONLY him to bring the world to peace but it did bring a sense of self achievement to that particular claim to fame.

Fact: He had saved a lot of lives.

True, a lot of those lives would never have been put in danger by the Akatsuki if jinchuuriki, such as himself, had never existed never existed in the first place and the chakra beasts were left to themselves to be mere legends told around campfires, but it could be seen as a bit of a stretch to blame him for the war. It takes two to fight.

Fact: 10,000 people were still dead.

That one was a hard pill to swallow. That was the horror of war. He had saved over half a million but even he could not save everyone. What bugged him was the fact that those people had died to save him. Yes, you could say that it was for the freedom of the world but they could still have let him die and just kept Killer B tucked away safe. Naruto felt like he was not necessary to the victory of the war. He may have been an important piece on the shogi board, but he did not feel like he was worth 10,000 lives. Even if you divided it by the jinchuuriki the Alliance protected, Killer B and himself, that was still 5,000 that died for him.

Mothers

Fathers

Brother

Sisters

Children

Parents

….family.

Why should families be broken apart for someone who never had one? How much was one life worth? If it meant that he could save his share of the 10,000 that had died then he would gladly take their place. He had friends to stand by him and see him as part of a makeshift family but how close was he really to them?

Fact: Sasuke was dead and Sakura resented ever having known him.

The ones closest to him had rejected him. Sasuke chose to die rather than accept his friendship. Sakura had pretty well disowned him as a friend. Called him a monster and a demon and told him to go to Hell. THAT was a particularly nasty new low.

Naruto could understand her feelings though. He didn't like it, but he could understand. Death had a nasty way of making people say things that they did not mean. Greif could cloud the mind and make you lash out at the ones you could believe were responsible in a way. He had also fallen into this trap when Jiraiya died and said some really unpleasant things to Tsunade. He went so far as to blame his death on her. That was not a high point in his life. Yeah… he could understand Sakura's reaction.

The realization that the amount of pain he had felt that day to make him say those words to Tsunade, was now being felt by Sakura was also weighing heavily on him. It was not the words that she said to him that hurt him, but the fact that she was hurting enough to say them.

Naruto was supposed to be her protector. He was her best friend and though others only saw the violence that she bestowed upon him and the way he would always defend her, they did not see the kind and caring side to her. She had to put on her emotional armour against the world just like him. She showed the world that she was aggressive and hard as stone. No one would mess with her, not even her closest friend. That was her armour to defend herself from others thinking she was weak. The downside was that sometimes her armour was a bit too thick. Only Naruto knew of her softer side. The side that loved ice-cream and scary movies. Going shopping but never actually buying anything. Reading romance novels and dreaming of a prince charming to come and take her away from this dark world. A prince with dark hair and was just misunderstood. He knew her inside out and to a degree, she knew him.

She knew everything that there was to know about him. About his past and where he would like to go on sunny days. That his favourite dish was NOT actually ramen and that he would trade his ramen for a home cooked meal with her. She knew about his family and how he had trouble concentrating at the academy because he was constantly getting glares.

But she did not know about how life really affected him. She was still holding onto the illusion he portrayed of the happy go lucky knucklehead. It was all a lie but it was to protect her from herself. If she knew what her words did to him and how much those punches really did hurt then she would destroy herself. He guessed it was all part of being a jinchuuriki. A human sacrifice. He was born to fall on his sword for others and even if he wasn't, all those years of villagers whispering to him what he was and what his fate should be had really done a number on his head. If you hear something often enough then you will start to believe it as true.

This line of thinking would have brought most people down and depressed. Instead, Naruto embraced it. It was somewhat …freeing… to see yourself as insignificant. It may have left you cold and alone inside and silently crying yourself to sleep most nights with a prayer of never waking up, but if you embraced your role as a sacrificial piece then you could be as reckless as you wanted. No one would mourn the loss of a jinchurriki. It would be celebrated.

Naruto shook his head to drive out these ever darkening thoughts. He was a war hero. A saviour to many and a prominent figure in this new world! He was now well respected and certainly a prime candidate for Hokage. Sure Sasuke might be dead and he had lost Sakura's respect and friendship and was now on his own again and people were starting to hate him for being a Jinchuu-…. DAMN IT! HE WAS NOT GOING TO BE LOST IN MISERY! HE WOULD FIGHT IT! FIGHT LIKE HE ALWAYS DID!

He would not lay down and die yet! His resolve to complete things he had started would not let him dwell on the sometimes comforting thoughts of his own demise and an end to his suffering. No, he still had things to do.

NxS


Neji and Sai were flying high above the encampment. The added altitude of Sai's ink beast bird allowed Neji's Byakugan to see to all new lengths and there was scarcely a thing that did not get noticed by the ever watchful eyes of these two men. They could see the slightest movements on the ground and all the hustle of the now departing Allied Forces.

It had been decided by the Kages that the borders should go back to the way they were before the creation of the sound village and Akatsuki bases would be handed over to whoever's territory they fell into. A truce was kept in place for the total of one month so that the forces could disperse at their leisure as to allow the still wounded some time to heal enough for travel. After the month was up then negotiations would begin to solidify or nullify the active party's roles in the Alliance. It was far too soon to state if the Alliance would hold up in the real world. If it were to hold up, then the entire economy on the ninja system would need to be overhauled to allow ninja missions to be carried out without the risk of allies attacking allies. There was a lot of work to be done and some questioned if it could be done in a month's time but the Raikage stated that the month was to allow ninja back to their territories and think if they wanted the Alliance to continue.

Kiba, Shino and Shikamaru were on the ground with radios and binoculars to keep an eye and ear on the aerial search team. The detail that Naruto was MIA was being kept quiet as no one wanted to spread the reason for his temporary disappearance around. There would be a mass panic in the ranks and many who had only just met the blonde and proclaimed him as a lifelong friend would rush in to interfere with a matter that did not concern them. Not even all of the Konoha twelve were in on Naruto's disappearance. Naruto always kept his matters private so that the direct parties involved would not feel the backlash of actions taken by well-meaning busy bodies. It was for this reason that Neji and not Hinata was in on the search. If Hinata had caught wind of what Sakura had done to Naruto then she would have teared the young woman a new one. Lee was kept out because he would rush in with his belief that the "spirit of youth" could fix all. Shikamaru was sure that Naruto did not want to hear an overly emotional speech of encouragement in dark times by Lee and by defacto, Maito Guy. Other members of the Konoha twelve were kept at arm's length because a lot of them did not know of Naruto's struggles. Naruto did not want to drag his friends down with him when he was in a funk, so he would create a lie that he was fine and overly happy. If all of his friends knew how much he suffered then they would be blown away by how little they knew and would not know how to help. Only these five knew of Naruto's self-isolating tendencies when hurt and they were going to keep it that way out of respect for Naruto.

Shino and Kiba were at opposite ends of the camp and were trying to get a scent on the missing blonde. Shikamaru was on the ground in the centre, monitoring the radio and giving directions.

"Shogi Knight to Baskerville's Hound. Have you Located trace of the Enigma?"

They spoke in code as to keep anyone listening on the wavelengths in the dark to their true objectives. Naruto was often referred to as the most unpredictable and puzzling thing that anyone had ever met. Enigma was often his codename for those who wanted to talk about him without anyone knowing. Not even Naruto knew of his nickname.

"Baskerville's Hound to Shogi Knight. Negative on trace to the East. Moving to sector 6-5-9"

"Roger that, Baskerville's Hound"

Shikamaru changed his attention from Kiba's radio to Shino's.

"Shogi Knight to Entomologist. Do you have a lock on the Enigma?"

"Affirmative! Trail leading North by North-West to sector 2-5-1. Do not have a visual but I believe I am getting close."

"This is Hawkeyes calling Shogi Knight! We have visual on the target and confirm that he is on the North ridge of sector 2-5-1."

"Shogi Knight to Hawkeyes. Can you ascertain condition on the target?"

Sai and Neji made another pass over the ridge to check on the speck of blonde and orange on the cliff edge bellow.

"Negative Shogi Knight. Target is stationary and physically fine but we all know that doesn't count for much. Permission to approach the Enigma?"

Shikamaru gave a slight sigh of relief. At least Naruto had not done anything to harm himself. He was never the type to do anything stupid like that but even the strongest had a breaking point. That was why he was called the Enigma though. He would bend every now and then, but he never broke.

"Shogi Knight to Hawkeyes. Permission denied. You are to wait until all parties arrive. We are on our way."

"Five by five"

"Roger"

"Ten four"

Shikamaru put down the Radio receiver and switched the system off. Getting up from his chair and desk, he made his way to see the Golden fox. He was worried about his mental state more than anything. That is why he ordered his friends to hold off approaching him until they were all there. That way they might have a better chance if something went wrong.

NxS


Shino was crouching behind a tree as Sai and Neji swooped down from the sky next to him. Sai held out a scroll as his great ink beast bird returned to the parchment. Giving a nod to them, Shino pointed to the blonde by the cliff. He was standing at the very edge as he looked up into the sky with a puzzled look on his face. He was clearly deep in thought but about what the three shinobi had no clue.

Shikamaru and Kiba arrived a moment later up the same track that Shino had used. Looking at one another with a tense expression on their faces they then looked to the blonde. He was dangerously close to the edge and even a strong breeze looked like it might nock him over.

Kiba grimaced at the man's precarious position. "So… how do you want to handle this? He may not be thinking of jumping but I don't want to scare him and have him fall."

"No shit Sherlock but if we approach him and he is planning on jumping, then from this distance we have no hope of stopping him. Sage or not, from this height he would be dead." Neji gave the blonde a careful scrutiny.

Shino pushed his heavily tinted sunglasses up his nose and looked to Shikamaru.

"You could try and catch him in your Shadow Possession Jutsu but then he will know that something is up, also if we try to sneak up on him and he catches us then we have the same problem."

Shikamaru groaned "what a pain in the ass. I guess we will just do what Naruto does best and approach boldly and hope for the best."

No sooner had they left the tree line did Naruto call out. "Hey guys! I was wondering when you were going to come out from those trees. I see we are moving out eh? About time I guess. I can't wait to get home!"

Naruto turned and stepped away from the edge and saw the five men in front of him visibly relax as he walked towards them. The smile on his face was almost blinding in its brilliance. Not a shred of depression or sadness emanated from the Enigma of everlasting sunshine that this man was. Kiba took this as a good sign.

"Hey Naruto! Glad to see you are alright! We were looking for you!"

"Yeah I know. Kinda guessed that when Neji and Sai flew over me… twice"

Shikamaru walked forward and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"We heard about what happened… With Sasuk-" He was cut off by Naruto waving his arms in the air in excitement and joy.

YEAH I TOTALLY KICKED HIS ASS! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT! I WAS ALL LIKE 'COME BACK TO US SASUKE AND START THE NEW CLAN OR I WILL KICK YOUR ASS' AND HE WAS ALL LIKE 'I WILL NEVER BOW TO YOU' SO WE STARTED FIGHTING AND I COMPLETELY OWNED HIM! IT WAS TOTALLY COOL!"

Shikamaru was now getting concerned. This was not the story that was circulating the camp sites. Sasuke had killed himself and any normal person would be at least a little put out by that. Naruto was by no means what you would consider normal, but he was human. Sometimes even that came into question but Naruto always was driven by his emotions.

Neji was not buying it either.

"But what about what Sakura said to you? She called you a demon in public and told you to go to hell. Aren't you mad at her for saying those things?"

Naruto did not even blink or falter in the slightest. He just grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Emotions were high and things were said. I mean I had just killed the man She loves. I can't blame her for being a little upset with me. I will just have to make it up to her somehow."

Naruto turned and looked over the valley at the Allied forces as they made their way back home. His smile was strong but his eyes for a brief moment gave a slightly pained glass to them.

"Well we better get going then! I don't want Sakura-chan to be even more pissed at me for making her worry. Hehe."

And with that he took off toward the cliff edge, giving the five men a mischievous smirk.

"LAST ONE THERE CARRIES THE AKIMICHI PORTABLE FRIDGE BACK TO KONOHA!"

Naruto leapt off the cliff and summersaulted before landing on a large piece of shale and gluing his feet to it with chakra then riding it down the cliff face at breakneck speed. His laughter could be heard all the way down and out to the campsite.

Shikamaru finally let out a long slow breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was worse than he had imagined.

"What was all that about?" Kiba asked.

"I guess he really was not affected by it" suggested Sai, only to receive a glare from Neji.

Sai was a lot better at reading emotions now but that didn't mean he didn't suck at reading between the lines. Naruto's mask was WAY too perfect. The only give away that it was a mask was that he showed NOTHING but happiness. Even the stoic Neji would have faulted if Tenten had said such things to him. The lie was obvious because of how well it was concealed. If he had shown one emotion other than joy, ANYTHING other than that, then they would know he was hurt but would be getting better soon. He had over compensated his destroyed soul and only those who knew any different than his flamboyant attitude towards life would know the difference.

"This is not good. In all the years I have known him, I have never seen him this repressed. He is forcing himself to feel happy, this is not his usual mask he wears. I almost want to believe he is fine but… I just know he is tearing himself apart." Shikamaru drawled.

"How do you know that?" Shino asked

Shikamaru started to rub his temples as he was fighting off a headache. He was a master at strategy but it was Ino who was the one to understand the mind.

"He said that he killed Sasuke... Sasuke killed himself though. That means that he is blaming himself for Sasuke's death and has taken Sakura's words to heart. He was right about emotions being high and things being said that were not meant but that does not mean he isn't hurting. I have a bad feeling about this. What a pain in the ass."

"So let's go down there and kick Sakura's ass and make her apologise to him! She needs to know that she can't treat him like that!" Kiba yelled. Clearly he was wanting to do SOMETHING productive today.

Neji shook his head. "We can't interfere. Naruto still thinks that his mask works on us. If we interfere then he will know that he can't get away with things around us and just push us away "for our own good" and hide his troubles from us. We are in a delicate situation. We know that he is hurting but we can't let him know that we know. We are ninja, our best work is completed when no one even knows anything is being done. We work from the shadows to make sure he is alright."

Shikamaru looked down the cliff face and saw the skid trail in the stone that Naruto had made on his decent. His eyes narrowed in concentration.

"When we get back to Konoha… We need to keep and extra careful eye on him, I want to know if he does anything suspicious."

Neji stood beside him and looked at the same groves in the stone.

"I agree. Anyone in his position should be a mess. What do you think he will do?"

Shikamaru closed his eyes and he took a steady breath. Working with Naruto was always difficult for him and always for the same reason. Opening them, he looked to the now setting sun, his face taunt with confusion and worry.

"I have no idea what he will do. He is always unpredictable. THAT is what concerns me."

NxS


Naruto already knew they were going to be watching him. They always did. He knew they would try and keep him safe but there are some things that you could not protect a jinchuuriki from. One of them was hate.

As he walked through the campsite, he was not welcomed with the same ardour as he was the day before. They still embraced his presence and accepted him as their hero but there was a sense that something was off. A vibe that he was now able to pick up thanks to his sage training. He could feel what they were feeling. It was not an exact art and he could not pick up the emotions of a single person but a large group that carried the same aura was now easier to read to him. As he kicked a small stone on the path and smile like the child he was pretending to be, he could already feel the fear in their hearts. Fear of the unknown.

Sakura had called him a demon and a monster in a public display of anger and hatred. Those who witnessed such a thing without knowing their personal history with Sasuke would be led to believe that she actually meant it. With a close friend calling another a demon, it might as well have been written in blood on his birth certificate and signed by the Fire Diamyo. The whispers were already starting. Rumours were already spreading. Fear is a highly contagious thing and mixed in with ignorance, it is dangerous.

Sakura may not have meant to, but her careless words had set back every good thing in the war he had done for these people. If left unchecked, fear would morph into hatred. He could already see it in some of their eyes but they were too hesitant to make an action against the Hero of the Fourth Shinobi War. All it would take would be one person to start it. One wrong move. One slip of the tongue. Naruto had to be mindful of his actions.

Smiling politely and giving a wave to those around him, he tried to wear off the tension that was slowly building. He was met with hesitance and awkward smiles. He was powerful and completely unknown apart from his name and some of his deeds. It was always the unknown that people were frightened the most of.

Making his way to his tent, he pushed the flap open and entered. He had better start to pack so that they could leave early in the morning. He was really starting to get homesick. Thoughts started to swirl in his mind of what was really waiting for him there. Happy thoughts like Ichiraku Ramen, the Hokage Monument and training ground seven. He also wondered if he would finally be promoted. He had gone into this war a Gennin and was now recognized as on par with the Kages. Perhaps even surpassing them. They HAD to make him Chunnin at least!

Naruto's thoughts were disrupted by Sakura and Ino entering his tent. Ino was pleased to see he was back but Sakura was dragging her feet and immensely interested in her shoes right now.

Naruto figured that Ino had dragged her here and was trying to make them at least be on a talking basis. Naruto did not really know what to say to Sakura. Did he want an apology? Was he supposed to apologise? Were they even friends right now?

By the look on Sakura's face, she was clearly uncomfortable. There was no way that she wanted to be anywhere near him. He had failed. He had promised to bring Sasuke back; he just didn't think it would be in a body bag. When it came to almighty fuck ups on his part, there was nothing greater on his list. Letting Sasuke go was the crowd favourite for a while but now there was a new chart topper.

Naruto turned to Ino as if to ask for some sort of guidance. Ino took this moment to give a stern look at Sakura and a firm nudge in the side. Sakura made a slight yelp but stepped forward to confront the blonde man that now towered over her. He was only five inches taller but it might as well have been five miles for how she was feeling. Ino was there to make sure she apologised for what she had said. She wanted to apologise. She needed to apologise.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she looked up into his eyes. His face was smiling kindly but his eyes were always the thing that got to her. She felt like she could see his soul in them, and right now, it was shattered. Sakura had spent the most of the day hearing whispers around the camp about Naruto.

Some were saying that he was terribly wronged by his team mate and she was a horrid bitch. Others were saying that she had stood up to the man who had killed her lover out of jealousy and that Naruto was really just like all the other Jinchuuriki. A Monster in disguise. A demon walking around and wearing a human like a suit. None of these made her feel any sort of comfort. She was only glad that Hinata had already left and headed home

Now as she stood before him and looked into his incredibly blue eyes, she just could not take it. She had been so angry and hurt that Sasuke would do such a thing that she had just snapped. She must have been out of her mind. She was not worthy of being in this man's presence and dropped her head in shame. Tears once again broke from her eyes.

Naruto decided to take the Initiative. He knew she hated him for what he had done but he had to try and comfort her. Friend or not, he cared about her. He would do anything to take away her tears. Taking a step forward, he wrapped her in a tight hug and brought her head to his shoulder. She burst into audible sobs and her body started to shake. She was in rough shape without Sasuke. He had to find a way to fix things. He had to make it right again.

NxS


Sakura was breaking down on his shoulder and crying her heart out. Why was he so good to her? Why did she always hurt him so badly? How could he be forgiving all the time? The man could not be human. A human would have turned her away by now but Naruto was something else. All he had to do was hold her and whisper into her ear that everything would be alright and she would believe it. He kept whispering that he was going to fix things, that he did not know how but he was going to find a way to make it right. She did not know what he meant but right now she didn't care. All she could do was cry.

NxS


Ino and Sakura left a few minutes after Sakura settled down and before they left, Naruto promised that he would make things right so the Sakura didn't have to be sad anymore. Sakura smiled and thanked him before disappearing out of his tent and into the night.

As soon as they left, Naruto sat down on his bed and closed his eyes. He had a lot to think about and was not sure how much time he would have to do it in. He had made a promise of a lifetime to Sakura and he was going to keep it. Somehow, Someway…. He was going to bring Sasuke back.

Naruto opened his eyes as he now stood before the open gate that was the Kyuubi's cell. Looking the great beast in the eye with a look of determination, he uttered a question that would greatly alter his future.

"Kurama, How many ways do you know of to raise the dead?"


I wonder how many of you saw that coming? I thought it was pretty freaking obvious but then I already know the story haha. Reveiw if you want! Love to hear your thoughts and oppinions. sorry to those who wanted Naruto and Sakura to be distant after their fight but like I said, we got a looooong way to go yet.

Fact about the Author: I have been told I have a deep and soothing voice that has been likened to Morgan Freeman. Not bad for a white guy. hehe