-Set at the beginning of Shippuden, Naruto comes back from training, only to find that Sakura has to leave on a mission of her own. In need of a team, he gets stuck with Hinata and Sai. How will this affect the whole series? And will Naruto ever love Hinata?
Yay! I finally have this chapter up! I'm sorry I took forever, but my ideas ran dry all of the sudden. It was horrible! I couldn't think of anything. Really, I had this whole writer's block, and so I've decided to skip that whole scene with Orochimaru coming to stop Sasuke from killing off his teammates. But don't worry, peoples! I might come up with something and put it in Shinobi, Heart Under Blade, kay? I'll tell you when I've put it up. I'm so sorry, peoples! But my mom has also forbidden me to go on the computer on school days, so that puts a HUGE dent on things. I don't know if I can find the time to update any time soon. But I promise I will have a new chapter up before the end of the year, kay? Thank you and please enjoy!
Episode Ten
~His Worries, Her Doubts, and Hinata's advice~
As Hinata passed the ramen shop, her gaze dropped when she didn't see Naruto there. How long had it been since their failed attempt to bring Sasuke back? Maybe . . . almost a week? She sighed. She couldn't blame Naruto for being so down. After all, they've waited for so long for that one chance… Who knew how long it'd be before they'd get another shot at getting the Uchiha back? And with everything that had happened during their meeting, she was surprised that Naruto could still believe that Sasuke could be brought back. She believed it too, but . . . Naruto just seemed to be a hundred percent sure… How could he? With all that's happened…
Hinata slowly made her way towards Naruto's home, but she knew she wouldn't find him there. He always wasn't whenever she'd go look for him. After all, he was still mad at her for insinuating that Sakura was with Sasuke and Orochimaru. She really couldn't blame him. She did make a huge jump on that matter. The girl wasn't Sakura. In fact, if she had been, how could she have let Sasuke take things so far? If he had released his jutsu, Naruto would've been dead already…
Hinata shook her head. She didn't even want to think about that. She couldn't even begin to wonder how Sasuke could fall so far as to kill his friend. And if Sakura were to see that… She couldn't even imagine Sakura's pain or how guilty she'd feel for asking Naruto to bring Sasuke back…
Hinata sighed. Things weren't going so well at all… She wondered if the news got to Sakura yet. Hinata could only picture Sakura's tears. After all, she was the one hurting the most when Sasuke had left Konoha. If she were to find out about Sasuke's trying to kill Naruto then… She really didn't want to think about how upset Sakura would be, if she were to blame herself, or even if she were to tell Naruto to stop trying to fulfill his promise. Sakura would be a wreck, and Hinata didn't want to know anymore but that.
When she arrived at Naruto's apartment, she knocked on the door. No answer. She sighed and knocked once more. Still no answer. She knocked once more, and still no answer. But this time, she was going to make herself heard. She wouldn't take any more of Naruto's ignoring her. She turned the door knob. Luckily, Naruto had left his apartment unlocked, and she walked in. The sight she was met with . . . let's just say it wasn't good.
Hinata placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "Well, I guess I can do some cleaning for him since he's out…"
✿｡.:**:.｡✿
"I have a favor to ask you."
"A favor, you say?"
"I would like to be allowed to remain on Team Kakashi for the time being, with my name as it is…" Sai said.
Danzo was shocked by Sai's remark. What is this smile of his…? He had never seen Sai smile so . . . so gentle before… It wasn't one of his fake smiles. No, this was the real thing this time. But nevertheless, he gave his answer. "Yes, I've been informed by Tsunade. However, let me remind you, Sai… Emotions lead one to hate, and hate leads to conflict and war.
"That may be the case…"
"Oh, and another thing… Did you meet up with Tsunade's apprentice? That Sakura girl?"
". . ." For a while, Sai didn't say anything—his smile dropping. What should he say?
Sai smiled at her. "So you must be Tsunade's student… Danzo told me I might meet up with you…"
Sakura didn't say anything, her ears catching onto the name of Sai's superior.
"He told me to kill you if I get the chance."
"Well, did you, Sai?"
"No, I didn't…"
"Oh? And why is that, you suppose?" Danzo chuckled. "Maybe she really did get herself killed already… I knew she couldn't handle such a job."
"Actually," Sai said, "It seems to me that she didn't tell Naruto about her mission. He and Hinata seem to be under the impression that she's visiting family members in other villages besides the ones in the Fire Country. She must have been staying out of our way so as to avoid the confrontation that would have surely insured if Naruto was to find out she had been lying to him."
". . . I see…" Danzo took a deep breath. "That will be all… You're dismissed."
✿｡.:**:.｡✿
Sakura laid back on the bed, rolling to her side. She still couldn't forget the events that had happened days ago. How could Sasuke…? How could he try to kill Naruto? She never thought the day would come… Had her assumption been wrong? Perhaps Sasuke really was beyond saving now…
She buried her head in the pillow she hugged and groaned. Could so much have changed? Was Sasuke really worth saving now? Was he worth all this pain and sadness? All of this sorrow and trouble?
She heard Kiki bark.
"Oh, Kiki…" she said. "I really don't know what to do anymore… Am I just wasting my time staying here? Should I just leave?"
Kiki stayed quiet. Suddenly, her ears perked up.
Sakura gasped, and her eyes widened at the sight but, before she could react, Sasuke was already in the room. She sat up, glaring at the man before her. Ever since he had tried to kill Naruto, she had doubts about him now. Would he try and kill her too?
He smirked at the fearful look in Sakura's eyes. It was about time she knew how dangerous he was. But there was this small part of him that was disgusted by the look she was giving him. It was almost as if she thought he'd kill her…
The two just stared at each other, each unmoving from their frozen stances. Kiki, too, stayed quiet, wondering what would happen. The awkward silence in the room was thick enough to suffocate a small child. It took a while, but Sasuke finally left to take a shower. "Go to sleep," he had told her. However, in the few short seconds before he left, Sakura could have sworn his eyes softened.
She sighed, her hand caressed her arm. It still hurt… But she knew that, as long as she had the curse mark, Sasuke had power over her. And being that, he had use for her… He wouldn't harm her in any way until she had finally outlived her usefulness. But for some reason, some part of her believed that there was another reason as to why she was allowed live… Was there something she was missing?
✿｡.:**:.｡✿
When Naruto opened the door to his apartment, the first thing he noticed was that his room was actually clean for the first time since Sakura had left. He could actually see the floor again! His first thought was that Sakura was back but, when his eyes landed on Hinata's sleeping form, his eyes softened. So she was the one who cleaned this place up…
He felt bad for her. She was the Hyuga heiress, after all. She probably had maidservants to do the cleaning at her house. She probably never even picked up a broom before. So now that she cleaned his room…
Naruto almost groaned. He had been looking for her all over the village! How could he forget to check right under his nose? If he had gotten here sooner then she wouldn't have needed to trouble herself especially since she thought he was still mad at her…
Naruto sighed as he sat on his bed beside the sleeping girl. The little movement caused her to stir. And in a few moments, her eyes fluttered open, and they immediately began to search the room. And when she saw Naruto, she smiled.
"Naruto-kun…"
". . . Gomennasai, Hinata-chan…"
His sentence left the groggy girl confused. "Huh? Wh-what do you mean, Naruto-kun? Why are you apologizing?"
"For getting mad at you… I had no reason to be mad at you."
"That's . . . that's okay, Naruto-kun!" she said as she sat up, a bit relieved too. A small part of her had been frightened. She had thought that he wanted her off of his team. "It was my fault anyway! I made that horrible implication without anything to go on. It should be me who's apologizing, not you! I—"
But Naruto just shook his head. "It's not your fault… I thought the same thing too when I saw that girl's eyes… I just . . . I just didn't want to believe it… I didn't want to believe both of my teammates have…" He couldn't even bring himself to finish that sentence.
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata hugged him, embracing him tightly. "You don't need to believe it… That girl… She wasn't Sakura… Sakura could never leave you… Sakura would never betray us… You know that, don't you?"
"But . . . she loves him, Hinata… She loves him! She always has…"
"Well then, if you . . . if you really think that . . . and if you really love her then you'll bring Sasuke back for her… Never give up, Naruto-kun… Sasuke will come home one day… And we'll wait together with him for Sakura to come back, too."
"But Sasuke's—"
"Don't you ever give up on bringing him back! Because he will come back one day!" Hinata snapped, her eyes bore into Naruto's. "He'll . . . he'll come back, and you'll become Hokage, and he and Sakura will get together, and Sai won't be such an ass anymore, and everyone can get the happy ending they want! Don't give up, Naruto-kun… Never give up!"
Naruto smiled and returned Hinata's hug. "Arigato, Hinata-chan…"
And throughout this whole conversation, Hinata didn't faint, not even once.
✿｡.:*The Next Day*:.｡✿
As Sai sat in his apartment, he did nothing but stare at the words he had written on his last mission. Friends…
"Do you even know what the word 'companion' means?" Naruto asked as he released Sai.
"Of course, I know." Sai said as he wrote the word on one of his scrolls. "What about it?"
He put down the scroll, smiling. Companions… Such a strange thing… They came in so many different forms… The first picture that came to his mind was that of his brother, and the second picture was of Team Kakashi—Yamato, Hinata, and Naruto. They . . . they were his companions…
However, his thoughts went back to his meeting with Danzo earlier that day.
"Oh, and another thing… Did you meet up with Tsunade's apprentice? That Sakura girl?"
"No, I didn't…"
He didn't know why he lied to his superior. After all, what did he owe that girl? They didn't even get off to a good start. If he remembered correctly, they both aspired to kill each other. Hm… Perhaps, he did it for Naruto's sake… After all, he had betrayed the ramen-loving shinobi. Maybe this would be his way of repaying his debt.
"I don't understand you at all…" Sakura said, glaring at the boy in front of her. She took off the hood of her cloak. "First, you're recruited by Danzo to be Naruto's new teammate. Then, you stage a betrayal… And now what are you doing? Are you just leading Naruto and them on or something? Are you trying to get them killed?"
"I don't need to answer to you," Sai said. "I thought I owed you a death…"
The kunoichi stopped in her tracks. ". . . You didn't betray Naruto completely… But if you continue to work under Danzo's influence and wind up hurting either him or Hinata,"—she turned back to glare at him—"I won't let you go next time…"
And as Sai picked up his paintbrush, his smile continued to stay on his face. Well, it looks like you won't be able to hold anything against me anymore, Sakura-san…
"Hey! Sai!"
"Hm?" He looked out the window to see Team Kakashi there.
"Come on!" Naruto yelled out to him. "We have a team meeting! Hurry it up!"
And Sai was out of the room in minutes. But if you were to look around his room, the scroll with the word "companions" or rather "friends" on it was sitting right below the window sill. And if you were to look out that window then you'd see Sai walking over to where his friends were waiting for him.
Okay… The chapter's done, but now that I look over it . . . it's sooo CRAPPY and so SHORT! I should've done something else! I should've made this longer, but it's un-expandable! I can't believe how bad this is! I'm so sorry, you guys! I just wanted to get this chapter out of the way and update it for you guys! I hope I did better than I thought…
Oh, and wait a minute! I made four new oneshots. Please read them if you get the chance or if you just want to pass the time waiting for the next chapter of Mirrorcle World. If you like Howl's Moving Castle then you'll like my Momentum oneshot. If you like Spirited Away then please check out Real Emotion and Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave. And if you like SasuSaku, please read Always with you and 영원한사랑& 여성시대. And if you like NaruHina, please read Appears. (I think I've asked you to read that oneshot already though.) Thank you and please review!
POLLS!
Hey, should I skip some of the boring parts and go on to some of the better parts? Like skip Asuma's death and add some extra stuff? And should I skip more parts until I catch up with the Naruto manga?
Also, please give me your opinions on how I can make this story better.