As It Is Now
Chapter 3
I don't own Naruto.
The village was really small; probably not even a village, but a little too big for a hamlet. A cross between a hamlet and a village then, Naruto decided as he walked past the first house. Standing next to the second house was an old man talking to a very animated little boy. When Naruto was within hearing distance of them, the old man ushered the boy to go and play before he turned his attention to the blond.
"Good day stranger. What brings you to our little place here?" The old man's eyes were clear and full of wisdom as they perused him. There wasn't any apparent suspicion in them yet.
"Good day to you too, sir. I was just passing through. Is there a place to stay for the night? If not, at least somewhere where I can get some fresh food?" Naruto asked politely. The old man seemed to weigh his words for a moment before he spoke.
"If you're looking for an inn, we don't have any of those here. As for food though, I'm sure that Natsumi would be willing to get you some food," he paused, then he continued with an inquiring look in his eyes, "Are you looking for anything else?"
Not surprised by his question but playing along nonetheless to find out how much the old man knew Naruto asked, "Now what makes you ask that?"
The old man shrugged slightly, "We're a small village, but it seems that in the past few years we've had many strangers pass through here looking for something."
"You mean someone," Naruto's eyes narrowed. No doubt the old man was referring to the oinins or bounty hunters that had come for Sasuke. And from the man's attitude, he wouldn't budge for much so Naruto decided to play his hand right away.
"Yeah, you can say that I'm looking for someone. I've been looking for him for a long time now. He's really pale, doesn't talk much, and has short black hair. The last that I heard of him is that he came this way. Have you seen him?"
"Who is he to you that you would chase him for this long?" the old man asked.
"He's my best friend," Naruto said solemnly as he stared right into the old man's inquiring gaze.
After a brief moment the old man looked away and said, "There are many travelers who wear cloaks and hoods. I may or may not have seen him. But if you do want food, Natsumi's house is down that way. I'll have Shinto show you the way." He gestured to the boy he had ushered away before. The boy came running over to the pair, curiosity brimming in his every movement.
"Shinto, please show this man to Natsumi for some food."
"Yes, Tozou-domo," he replied respectfully before he innocently grabbed Naruto's hand in his excitement, "Come on, her house is this way!"
The blond followed the eager boy down a dirt path away from the general cluster of homes. As soon as they were out of sight and hearing of the old man, the boy dropped Naruto's hand and turned to him, asking, "So, you're a traveler eh? What's your name? Where are you from? Are you looking for someone? Cuz I heard you ask Tozou that you were looking for someone."
The blond glanced down at the boy in amusement; he sure was a curious one. Deciding to indulge the kid a bit, not to mention that most children tended to give out information freely, he chuckled and started to talk.
"I'm a traveler yes. My name is Naruto and I'm from Konoha. I am looking for someone."
"Naruto? That's a weird name! My name is Shinto and my mamma told me that it's a very fine name for a man!" the kid puffed out his small chest in pride and Naruto couldn't help but smile and agree that it was.
"Eh, who are you looking for anyway? Is it a criminal?" the boy continued, "Because there are no criminals here." He had on a frown as he stopped and placed his fists on his hips to emphasize his point.
"No, I'm looking for my best friend," Naruto said quietly. At his quiet tone, Shinto's eyes filled with sorrow.
"Oh, did you lose him? Are you sad? Because if I lost my best friend I would be sad too. He's really cool, he gives me piggyback rides and he's real strong. I bet he's even stronger than you!" the boy went on in his excitement about his best friend.
Naruto asked, "Really, who is your best friend?"
"Oh, his name is Uzumaki! It's easier to just call him Maki though. He's about as old as you I think. But he's real cool, not like Toshi's dad; he's a pig and he's mean. Although Maki did make him shut up once and we all laughed…"
The boy went on with other situations but Naruto had ceased to notice. As soon as he heard the name, he knew that had to be Sasuke. So he was involved with the village? He was someone else's best friend? These implications raced through his head as they continued walking.
"Naruto? We're here!" Shinto called up to him. Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked at the house that they had stopped in front of.
It was small and humble but the surrounding grounds were clean and weed free. The house was well taken care of and there even appeared to be a garden on the side that wrapped around the house into the back. From what he could see, there were a lot of tomato plants and herbs. Some tomatoes looked ripe enough to pick but maybe there hadn't been any time to pick them yet.
Shinto ran up to the door and knocked a couple of times before he opened the door and stepped inside, yelling, "Natsumi! Naruto is here for some food!"
Scuffling could be heard coming from within the house as a middle aged woman poked her head out to frown at Shinto.
"Shinto, what did I tell you about yelling like that?" she scolded the boy as she stepped out of the doorway; her eyes slid to the blond and she raised her brow and took in his appearance. Her eyes were guarded even as Shinto muttered an apology then grabbed her hand and excitedly told her about the man he had just met and how he was looking for his best friend.
"Is that so?" she simply said, "Well, you wanted some food right? Come back in a little while and I'll have some for you." She returned back into the house without waiting for an answer. The subdued reaction had Naruto thinking that she was very similar to the old man earlier. They knew he was here for Sasuke but they were rather passive with their distrust.
"Naruto! Do you want to meet Maki? He's really cool and I think that he needs a best friend. I know that I said that he's my best friend, but, well, sometimes I think that he needs a best friend too." At Naruto's surprised stare, the boy continued, "Come on, I'll show you to him. You'll see what I mean when you see him." He once again grabbed the blonde's hand and pulled him off in another direction.
Moments later they arrived at another house. It appeared less used; less lived in, but it was still in good condition despite the occasional weed here and there. It was a change from the large, empty compound that the raven haired man had grown up in and Naruto couldn't help but think that he must have preferred this to the ghost town that he went home to every night back when they were younger.
Shinto's loud greetings weren't returned this time and the boy darted down another path, this time not taking Naruto's hand but merely shouting over his shoulder for him to follow; that he would lead him to his best friend.
Naruto followed the boy, but not too closely though. The closer that he got to Sasuke, the more apprehension and dread he felt. Soon he began to slow down so that Shinto ran further ahead every second. Butterflies fluttered frantically inside him and part of his mind screamed at him to turn around.
He was so nervous.
Suddenly confronting Sasuke didn't sound like such a good idea after all. From his hearing, he could tell that Shinto had stopped but he had been so lost in thought that the chance to run slipped away when he pulled up a few meters short of the boy.
Before him stood the man he had been looking for all these years. Dressed simply in plain colors, he stood with quiet grace and dark eyes. He held a hoe in his right hand and in his left he held a straw hat that he must have taken off when Shinto called out to him.
"Hey, Maki! This is Naruto; he's looking for his best friend. He's passing through the village and I remembered that I wanted you to have a best friend too so I want you to meet Naruto!" Shinto explained enthusiastically. At his cheerful smile, Naruto nodded in Sasuke's direction in lieu of greeting which the pale man did not return.
"Natsumi is making him some food. She told us to come back later when she had it done," he paused for breath but before he could add anything else, Sasuke spoke.
"Shinto, why don't you go back to Natsumi and get Naruto his food."
"Ah, sure," he said hesitantly as he watched the two adults with sudden unusually knowing eyes. It seemed like Maki telling him to leave so suddenly had happened many times before. The boy stood there for another moment as he looked back and forth between the two men then he turned around and supposedly went to get Naruto's food.
The two men stood there for the longest time, merely looking at each other. It wasn't until Naruto broke eye contact to look around the field that Sasuke had been working on that the silence was broken.
"So…You've been here all this time?" he half asked, half stated as he lifted blue eyes to meet dark, unreadable ones.
"Hn," was all the response that he received from the pale man. Naruto frowned at that and for the first time since they stood face to face, emotions showed through.
"Why?" Blue eyes searched onyx ones for an answer to the question that had plagued him ever since Kakashi had told him about the village. Anger and confusion were some of the many emotions rising up inside of him as he continued to stare into those dark eyes.
"What does it matter?" Disbelief flooded the blonde's face at his rival's nonchalant words.
"What? What do you mean 'what does it matter'? I've been looking for you all this time and you've been here the whole time, bastard?!" Naruto's voice grew louder with every word that came out of his mouth.
"You're not my keeper," Sasuke said with infuriating calm. Before Naruto could retort to that Sasuke continued, "Didn't I tell you to forget about me? You've accomplished your dream of being Hokage, what more do you want?"
What more do you want?
That line; it had been said so many times to him by so many others when he kept looking for Sasuke. To have Sasuke say that as well made him snap a little inside.
"What do I want?! What the hell do you think? You think I like chasing you around for nothing? I want you back!"
Silence followed his outburst; his chest heaved from pent up emotions, his fists clenched tightly. And still, no response from the one that mattered.
"Well?" Naruto prompted. Sasuke raised a brow at which Naruto sighed dramatically, his anger gone for the moment, "Are you coming back with me or not?"
The brow lowered and one word came out of his mouth, "No." The pale man said no more as Naruto stared at him as he contemplated what he was going to do.
"Hn, bastard," Naruto muttered, not really expecting anything else but he glared at him anyway and turned around abruptly and stomped off, muttering all the while, when all he really wanted to do was smash his fist into that bastard's calm face.
He really was getting old, turning away instead of fighting. Maybe he had grown up after all, he thought to himself as he headed back down the path he had come on.