Note: Oh, I wanted to clarify that Naruto did actually hit the little girl and kill her by accident. Sorry, when I fix up this story, I'm gonna go back and add more details to that bandit-attacks-village scene. So sorry for any confusion about that! (tinabot no baka) Hmm, this chapter makes a direct reference to my 1st fanfic, Awakenings, so for anyone who hasn't read it, Awakenings Ch. 8 would be good read in order to understand what's being referenced here. Thanks so much for reading again! I'd keep writing this even if only one person was reading and enjoying it, so thank you all so much for enjoying this fanfic and letting me know that you're out there reading!
All The Difference 12
Hiashi sat at the dining table early in the morning with his wife and youngest daughter sipping steaming hot green tea out of a beautiful rough surfaced black tea cup. His wife wore a deep purple kimono with the petals of pink sakura blossoms flying all over its silky surface wrapped in a light violet obi. Like a miniature version of her father, Hanabi wore a nondescript plain black kimono with an equally plain gray obi wrapped around her torso. They sat in the elegant room on the tatami matting, enjoying the peace and quiet of their garden view and the warmth of the tea they drank in the brisk morning air. The pond in the tea garden turned slightly from the movement of the koi fish that played just beneath its sparkling surface. The sun had just peaked over the hills and began spreading the brightness of a new day across the land.
The sound of four sets of footsteps came down the stairs and towards their direction. When the four young genin came into view, Hiashi was quick to inquire about the state of Naruto and Tenten's eyesight.
"Naruto, Tenten, have you regained your—"
Hiashi's sentence was interrupted by a loud crash. The peace and elegance of the morning breakfast at the Hyuuga mansion suddenly paled against the laughter that filled the air. As the four genin were entering the dining room for breakfast, Naruto had turned too soon and walked straight into the delicate, wooden sliding door, smashing open the paper that covered the pattern of squares on the top half of the door.
"Naruto! Are you okay?" Hinata asked genuinely concerned but still with a wry smile on her face. She put a hand on his shoulder as he rubbed his now slightly red forehead.
"Ah hahahaha, yeah, oh sorry about the door. Is it broken?" Naruto's arm came up to feel for the spot where he had smashed into the door.
"Do not worry, Naruto, that can be easily fixed," Hiashi himself responded, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye from the laughing.
"I suppose, Naruto, that you have definitely not regained your eyesight," Hiashi finished, then added, "and you Tenten?"
"No, Hiashi-sama," Tenten replied politely.
"Ah, I see, well, then we have time for some more training this morning then."
"Ossu (Yes sir)!" Naruto said exuberantly punching a fist up into the air that Neji dodged without even blinking an eye.
As they sat down and breakfast was served, Neji looked thoughtfully at Naruto and then turned to Hiashi and said,
"I think today we should play hide and seek. Naruto seems to be able to dodge projectiles but he can't quite grasp his environment in his blinded state."
Hiashi put a hand up to his chin pensively.
"Hmm, that is a most appropriate idea," he conceded.
"Yes, this way, Naruto won't accidentally think I'm Hinata again and try to kiss me or something," Neji added with an impish glint in his eye.
There were some muffled giggles and stifled laughs around the table.
"BLEH! Oh jease! Yeah, the last thing I want to do is accidentally kiss another boy," Naruto expressed, sticking his tongue out in distaste and emphatically swinging his chopsticks around while Hinata dodged it without skipping a beat in her breakfast routine.
"ANOTHER? You mean you accidentally kissed a boy before?" Neji asked, an eyebrow raised. The rest of the party gave Naruto looks of disbelief as well.
"Oh yeah, you all weren't there in the same class as us. Hinata was there, right?" Naruto turned to her. She nodded with a look on her face that said she was trying hard not to laugh at the revived memory.
"Who was it?" Tenten asked with heightened curiosity.
Naruto put his hands behind his head, turned to the direction of Tenten's voice, and said, "Sasuke."
The table burst out in a fresh bout of laughter.
"Sakura must have murdered you that day!" Tenten said between laughs.
"Yeah, she beat me up," Naruto said with a sort of wry smile at his strange memory of the day when he, Sasuke, and Sakura first became of team of three. "Her and every girl in the class…"
Every laughed some more at that.
"Every girl except Hinata," Naruto finished throwing his girl a toothy smile.
Hinata smiled shyly and blushed. She remembered how disappointed she was that she wasn't put in a group with Naruto that day. Back then, she would have never thought that she would be sitting next to Naruto having breakfast with her family and with Neji and Tenten at the table as well. She smiled happily to herself. Hiashi and his wife smiled, too, noticing Hinata's smile and enjoying the pleasant sounds of a full house for breakfast. The Hyuuga mansion had never been so warm and full of life.
Sasuke sneezed.
Someone must be talking about me right now.
It was early morning, and he was in his old home vacuuming up the dust and dirt that gathered in a thick layer on the tatami mats. The dust was flying everywhere. The sunlight that poured into the room highlighted the floating dust particles as they rose and fell then slowly thinned as they were gathered into the vacuum. Sasuke had on a pair of black shorts and black shirt with an old dark blue bandana tied around his face covering his nose and mouth from the floating particles in the dirty air. As he finished, he stopped for a moment and looked at the old living room. The room was becoming more and more familiar as it became cleaner. Sometimes, he could almost expect his mother or father to walk in at any moment. He even expected his brother, Itachi, to walk into the room, an Itachi of the time back when things in Sasuke's life was simpler, back when he believed he had a brother who cared about him.
"Now to wipe down the mats with some wet cloth," Sasuke thought out loud.
He went over to the kitchen and was on his way to the sink to fill a bucket with water when something caught his eye outside a window. Her pink hair flashed brightly in the morning sun and the old white shirt and black shorts that hung comfortably over her frame moved steadily as her arm moved up and down. Sakura had come with him early in the morning to begin the rebuilding of the Uchiha clan's home neighborhood. Her hand held a small brush that was painting blue trim onto a window frame on a building adjacent to Sasuke's home. Sasuke looked at the back of Sakura's head, the blue cloth of her forehead protector framing her pink hair, a bright glint reflecting off of the metallic Konoha symbol at the top of her head. He half smiled, grateful for her help and company. She was after all the one who convinced him to undertake this project.
He watched as the wind blew between the buildings and caused her hair to flow to the side like a thick stream of sakura petals flying in the wind. The branch of a tree next to the window started to creek and reached for Sakura's head. It caught some of her pink strands. Sasuke watched as Sakura reached her free hand behind her and brushed away the branch. A moment later, another wind passed through and the branch again tickled the back of her head. Her hand slipped from the disturbance in her concentration and a bit of the blue trim that was meant for the window frame slipped onto the white wall beside it. Sakura paused, the blue paint-covered tip of the brush she held in her hand hung in mid air near the wall where it had made a stray mark.
Sasuke had to smile. He could tell Sakura the perfectionist was extremely irritated.
Without warning, Sakura's free hand pulled out a kunai from her pack and sliced off the branch that had been tangling in her hair. It fell listlessly to the ground. Sakura proceeded to stomp on it dramatically.
"STUPID BRANCH!"
She stomped some more. Then she lifted her foot, stepped back, and pointed at the now broken up piece of branch wood accusingly with the blue-tipped brush while pointing her index finger on her free hand up to the stray mark of blue on the otherwise pristine white wall.
"LOOK what you made me do! It was PERFECT before! ARRGHHH!"
With one last stomp, Sakura quickly returned to quietly and attentively painting the trim on the window frame as if nothing had happened.
Sasuke broke out in a full smile, thoroughly amused at Sakura's private moment of irritation that had just played out before him. Then his eyes softened, and rising from somewhere inside of him was a feeling that filled his chest and washed through his consciousness. He suddenly felt like wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her locks of soft pink hair.
As the feeling overcame him, he suddenly became aware of it and his face burned bright red. He quickly went to the sink and turned on the water which he was glad to see was finally running clean. He cupped his hands and splashed his face with the clear liquid, trying to cool his burning cheeks. Still in a state of mild confusion, he filled the water bucket and quickly went back to work wiping up the mats and floors in his old house.
Hinata activated her byakuugan. She was hidden in the closet in the front hallway. The door was completely closed, and she sat in complete darkness, but she could see everything and everyone in the household. Her mother and father had left for a meeting. Hanabi, who agreed to help serve as a decoy in this exercise, was under the dining room table. Neji was up on the roof in a dark, shaded corner under the overhang of the roof of a higher level in the building. Tenten was standing quietly in the garden. Naruto was moving down the hallway near their sleeping quarters searching from room to room.
Hinata sighed and relaxed her bloodline limit ability. Naruto was far away from her position and showed no signs of finding her soon. They had been at this all morning. Tenten seemed to be slowly tracking down Neji quite efficiently placing herself in one general space and then another, then carefully standing still and listening and feeling for Neji's presence. Naruto, on the other hand, had been traveling all over the place haphazardly searching this nook and that corner with no apparent plan whatsoever. The noise he made looking for her was enough to cover up any sound of her presence or movements. Hinata could tell that Tenten was also using Naruto's noisy search to her advantage by listening to his search to determine places where Neji wasn't located.
Hinata leaned back against the closet wall in the dark and stretched out her legs. She sighed and her thoughts went to the technique she had just mastered yesterday, the Genwaku Hyuuga (Blinding In The Sun). She calculated that if Itachi were to try to attack her with the same technique, she would have to attack with the Genwaku Hyuuga before he could begin his attack on her or else she would be helpless again to its effects. This would be difficult because, although the attack itself had felt like hours and hours of torturous images, she had learned from Tsunade-sama that the attack only lasts for about a second which means it was fast. She would have to be faster.
Reminded of the psychological attack, Hinata couldn't help but see some of those horrifying images play through her mind. The killing of her family, and Naruto…she shivered and curled up from her relaxed position, hugging her knees to her chest. That was the most horrible image of all, the image of the Kyubi feasting on Naruto's lifeless body. She had heard about the terrible fox demon that had attacked Konoha, killing many of its finest ninjas and how the 4th Hokage had given his life to save the village. The part that had been left out of the tales she heard, though, was how the demon was sealed into Naruto's body. She had always wondered why many of the adults often gave Naruto dirty looks when they were still back at the academy. Now she knew why.
The image of Naruto when he had come to save her from her staged kidnapping flashed back into her mind. His eyes had been blood red and feral, a blood-thirst had haunted his features as he rose his hand up to strike Hyuuga Ryozo, her supposed kidnapper. At first, it terrified her to see Naruto that way. She would have never imagined such a look of utter violent intent in Naruto's usually cheerful or nobly determined face. When she had called out to him to stop, though, she saw the look of bloodlust disappear, and suddenly the Kyubi possessed Naruto changed from killer-destructive demon to what seemed like a civilized, loyal and noble creature. She had decided that Naruto wasn't helpless to the Kyubi's influence, and that possibly, the Kyubi was learning from Naruto the way she had learned from him. Courage and determination plus an iron will and a good heart. Naruto truly a one of a kind example of greatness. Itachi's psychological attack on her, however, had revealed how deeply she was afraid of the Kyubi hurting Naruto.
The door of the closet suddenly flung open. Hinata gasped despite herself as she blinked up at the light that poured into her hiding space. The dark silhouette of a spiky-haired figure stared down at her. Then, it crouched down and sniffed the air inside the closet. It reached a hand out and grabbed her ankle.
"Hinata?"
"Hai, Naruto."
Naruto smiled at the sound of her soft voice. He pulled her away from the back of the closet towards him by her leg. She found her face inches from his. Naruto wrapped his arms around her, pressed his forehead against hers, and smiled.
"I missed you," he said, his slightly raspy voice easily smoothing away the worries that had been haunting her just a moment before. She smiled happily.
"I missed you, too," she returned.
"So, what, don't I get a kiss for finding you?" Naruto flirted. Hinata blushed and giggled. Then she tilted head up and lifted her lips to his, caressing his warm, wet lips with her own. She pulled away. Naruto felt his heart pounding inside his chest, his face flushing red with fever. At that moment, he wished he could see her glimmering eyes and sweet smile. He placed his forehead shyly back on hers, smiled, and hugged her closer.
In his warm embrace, Hinata had never felt so happy before in her life. She had always known that whatever happens, even if the Kyubi should turn on them both, Hinata wanted to be there with Naruto no matter what. It was a price she didn't hesitate to pay to see him smile and to be by his side as his beloved.
Sasuke wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he stepped out into the sun. He turned to look up at his own house. The paint was really doing wonders in bringing back life to the broken down buildings. Sakura had painted not only his home but the two homes adjacent to his.
"Sa, what do you think Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked as she walked up towards him, a bucket of paint in one hand and a brush in the other. Her face was adorned with a few paint marks and the old white shirt she had was also stained here and there with a shade of blue, gray, or brown.
"It looks great," Sasuke replied approvingly. Sakura beamed. Sasuke turned to look at her as she smiled happily, and suddenly he remembered the feeling he had earlier, the urge to take her up in his arms. It rekindled in his chest and in his consciousness. His face flushed red despite himself.
"Oh my gosh! Sasuke-kun! Are you okay?" Sakura exclaimed, the happiness on her face falling to worry. She rushed to him and placed a hand on his forehead. Sasuke's face flushed even more at her sudden closeness and touch.
"You must have overworked yourself this morning!"
"No, I'm fine, I'm probably just a little tired, that's all," Sasuke tried to play off his embarrassment and fatigue.
"Maybe we should go see Tsunade-sama early!" Sakura said, her eyes a bit panicked. She couldn't help glancing at the spot where his bruise was hidden under the black work shirt he wore. They had an appointment to speak with the 5th in the afternoon about it, but the sooner they could ask her about it the better.
"No, it's okay, Sakura, I'm fine. Maybe we should just have lunch," Sasuke tried to diffuse her worry while at the same time trying to cool down his face.
Seeing the red leave his face, Sakura agreed hesitantly, "Okay…are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm completely sure," Sasuke replied, finally regaining his composure.
Throwing him one last unsure look, Sakura went to get the lunch that her mother had packed away for them.
The shadows of midday were just beginning their stretch across the progressing afternoon when Sasuke and Sakura stepped into the 5th Hokage's office. The panorama of Konoha stretched out behind her as she sat there giving them her usual, severe look, daring them to waste her time. Piles of paper work towered over her, and she tapped a pen irritably on a report open wide across her desk.
"So, what is it that you two wanted to talk to me about?"
Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a nervous look. They had both changed back to their usual attire to meet with the 5th. Both were eager to hear what she had to say about Orochimaru's cursed seal.
"Tsunade-sama," Sakura began, "Sasuke-kun would like to get rid of bruise caused by the Juin Jutsu (Cursed Seal Technique) Orochimaru performed on him."
The 5th Hokage linked the fingers of her hands in front of her mouth and leaned forward, her blond hair framing the serious look in her eyes.
"I see," she said. There was no easy way to tell them this, so she just blurted out the answer.
"It can't be done."
Both Sakura's and Sasuke's faces fell.
"No! That can't be it!" Sakura said, desperately looking for another way, another answer.
"Sakura," Tsunade gave her student a deep look, "I'm sure you've examined the bruise yourself. It is a jutsu that infuses with every cell of the body. In its initial form, we would at least be able to seal it and prevent it from activating on its own. I believe Kakashi performed that sealing on you," Tsunade gave Sasuke a look, and he nodded in affirmation.
"However, in its current advanced form, the only one who can remove it is Orochimaru himself, for it is his will that keeps the effects of the technique alive in Sasuke."
They stood silent for a moment, then Sakura pressed on.
"There must be something we can do!" Sakura said desperately, her eyes pleading with her teacher for some way out of what seemed like a dead end.
"There is," Tsunade said seriously, "Kill Orochimaru."
Silence filled the room again. Sakura turned to look at Sasuke who was staring at the floor, his hands in his pockets. A panic shot through Sakura. She wanted more than anything for Sasuke to be free of Orochimaru's cursed seal, but at that moment, she feared that Sasuke would leave on his own to fight Orochimaru. The look of fierce determination she saw growing silently in his eyes fueld her fear. They would lose him again. She couldn't let that happen.
"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura almost yelled. The 5th shifted her gaze towards her pupil.
"I propose a mission to find the whereabouts of Orochimaru! I would like to be on that mission! Onegaishimasu (Please)!" Sakura demanded.
Sasuke turned to look up at Sakura, slightly startled out of his own thoughts by the adamant tone in her voice. He could see the look of intense worry and the slight sense of panic that quivered underneath her otherwise determined façade.
The 5th Hokage sighed loudly and leaned back in her seat.
"We've all ready had many missions sent out for that purpose. Sasuke himself has provided all the information he knows about Orochimaru's whereabouts. We still haven't been able to find him."
Sakura's face fell. Sasuke looked first at Sakura, then caught the eyes of the 5th as she looked intently at him. He let out a sigh.
"Well, then I guess we'll just have to wait until he comes here for me. Sorry we used up your time, Hokage-sama. Sakura, let's go."
The 5th smiled as she watched the door close behind the two young genin. Orochimaru would be back here indeed for his prized Uchiha boy, but she could see in Sasuke's eyes Konoha's will of fire. He would not let Konoha fall at Orochimaru's feet, and Tsunade knew better than anyone else, Sasuke was the best defense Konoha had against Orochimaru.
Sakura walked along side Sasuke, unable to get her spirits back up. They walked in silence with Sasuke glancing over at her from time to time. The shadows had stretched longer across the road they traveled on. Sasuke was just about to offer Sakura some words of comfort when they heard a loud thump and crash above them. They both looked up startled, but their surprise was replaced by a strange mix disbelief, familiarity, and sympathetic embarrassment. Naruto had just smashed into the top of a wooden telephone pole they were about to walk by, his arms and legs sticking out around the pole as if he was about to hug it. A squeal sounded out in the rooftop next to the pole.
"Aah! Naruto! Are you all right?"
As Naruto seemed to peel off the pole and begin to fall back, Hinata flew into sight from the rooftop and caught her boy in midair, then landing as light and agile as a cat on the sidewalk in front of Sasuke and Sakura. She lay Naruto on the floor.
"Daijobu desu ka (Are you all right)?"
Naruto rubbed his red and dirty face, his head slightly lolling in a state of dizziness.
"Hai, I'm okay."
"Oi, Naruto! If you keep this up I'm going to beat you at the next chuunin exam!" Neji joked from his perch above with Tenten standing by his side.
"Sakura! Sasuke! Yo!" Tenten greeted with one hand up. Neji smiled at them in greeting.
"What are you all doing?" Sakura asked, wondering why the four of them were roof hopping at this time.
"Training!" Naruto said, punching a fist up into the air.
"Training?" Sasuke asked with one eyebrow raised.
"Yup! Neji and Hinata just mastered a new byakuugan technique yesterday on Tenten and me so she and I are blind right now!" Naruto said, looking just slightly off to the right of where Sasuke and Sakura stood.
"Well, my vision's been coming back a little bit at a time all afternoon. Everything's blurry, but I can sort of see. I guess you haven't been getting yours back yet Naruto?" Tenten said.
Neji chuckled, "Then again, it's not like Naruto wouldn't run into things anyways."
"That's true," Sasuke and Sakura said simultaneously as they looked at the third member of their team that they knew all too well.
Naruto got to his feet with Hinata's attentive help, put both hands behind his head throwing his elbows out in a wide stretch, and said, "Ha, you're all just jealous that I'm gonna be Hokage!"
The friends smiled, laughed, and talked, the friendly banter continuing along. Hinata, however, was quiet and full of worry. If Naruto's vision wasn't coming back while Tenten's was, it had to be her fault. Maybe she hadn't executed the technique right after all. A knot of worry grew in her stomach.
"Hey, what are you guys doing out here? Going on a mission without ME!" Naruto accused.
"Ha, NO," Sakura said, giving Naruto her usual scolding look, "We just came from a meeting with Tsunade-sama…" The raucous had taken her mind off of her worries for a moment, but they resurfaced again and her face noticeably fell as her voice trailed off.
The rest of them gave her a puzzled look, wondering what had happened. Neji and Tenten came down from off the roof.
"I went to ask her about removing Orochimaru's cursed seal from my body. She said the only way was either for Orochimaru to remove it himself, or for us to kill him."
The four friends looked from Sasuke to Sakura, then back to Sasuke.
"WELL? WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? LET'S GO GET HIM!" Naruto said loudly.
"It's not that easy, Naruto. The Tsunade-sama's sent out lots of ninjas on the mission of locating him and they haven't found him. Not even with all the info on him that Sasuke-kun brought back," Sakura said in a tone of finality, as if there was nothing more about the issue to discuss.
Sasuke glanced over at her, then looked straight at Naruto, meeting his friend's fiery blue eyes with his own. One side of his lip curled up in a half smile.
"So, we'll just have to wait till he comes for me and kick his butt then," Sasuke said fiercely.
Naruto caught on quick, an equally fierce look spreading across his face as well as the faces of Neji, Tenten, and even his timid Hinata.
"OH YEAH! That's right! Ne (huh)? Sakura? If Orochimaru's stupid enough to show up here, BAM, we'll make him take off the cursed seal," Naruto said full of fervor.
Sakura was startled out of the vortex of worry she was spiraling down into, looking up at the expression of all her friends there. The fire she saw burning in all of their eyes reminded her…That's right, we're all here together, fighting to protect each other…Her face lifted, the Inner Sakura flame rekindled in her own eyes.
"That's right! The next time I see that Orochimaru's face I'm going to—" she threw a punch to her side right into the cement wall that was lining the side walk separating the backyard of one of Konoha's residential dwellings from the public street. The concrete wall pulverized into dust and small chunks of rock. Sakura's eyes grew wide with shock. She had forgotten her own strength.
"HEY! What are you kids doing—WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY WALL!" an middle-aged man screamed out of his window.
"AHHH! RUN!" Sakura squealed as she took off. The rest of the genin followed suit, and when they were all quite far away from the scene of the crime, they all began to laugh. The sound of their merriment echoed pleasantly into the afternoon air, floating into the sky as if they were living in a nostalgic memory. Sasuke smiled, relishing his new happy memory among friends.
"Hiashi-sama, Tenten's regained her eyesight, and I've all ready escorted her home," Neji said with all the formalities of a branch family member.
"Ah," Hiashi replied. The Hyuuga family was seated around their dining table preparing for the evening's meal, and Neji had just stepped in and made his report. He took his seat.
"And do you know if Naruto's regained his vision y—"
For the second time that day, Hiashi's sentence was interrupted by the loud sound of Naruto crashing into something. This time, it was a wooden banister that connected the overhang to the outside walkway. Hinata went over quickly to Naruto, saying "Daijobu?" for about the hundredth time that day.
The two took their seat at the table and dinner was served.
"So, Naruto, I take it that you haven't regained your eyesight yet?"
Hinata's head and face fell with worry and guilt at these words.
"Ah, hahaha, no, not yet, but I'm sure I'll be fine," he said, rubbing the red spot on his face.
"Do you mind if I examine you, Naruto?" Hiashi asked.
"Um…" Naruto said hesitantly, "um, sure, why not?"
Hiashi's byakuugan hyper-activated. He carefully looked over Naruto's inner chakra flow system and nervous system.
Hm…everything seems to be normal…ah, so desu (I see)…Hiashi thought quietly to himself, trying to keep himself from smiling from his discovery.
"Everything's fine. You should be able to see in the morning. You should stay here again for the night."
"Ah, thanks. See? Hinata? There's nothing to worry about," Naruto said reassuringly, not quite looking right at her while speaking to her.
Un-reassured, Hinata was quiet, her brow stayed furrowed with worry for the rest of the dinner.
Later, when she walked Naruto to his sleeping quarters, she used the moment of privacy they had to pour her heart out to him.
"Naruto, I'm so sorry! It's my fault! I must have done the technique wrong! Maybe you won't see ever again!" The prospect of this horrified her so that tears pooled at her eyes and began to stream down her face.
Naruto smiled tenderly, looking down at her pearl-violet colored eyes as they sparkled with tears. He lifted his thumb and wiped away another tear as it fell, stopping it midway down her face.
"Hinata, don't worry, I can see, I was just pretending," Naruto revealed.
"What? But you kept running into things! How--?" Hinata started.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you so much. I was just pretending," Naruto said.
"But…but why?" Hinata asked, genuinely puzzled.
"So I could stay here for another night."
Hinata's eyes grew wide.
"I just like being near you," Naruto said with a lopsided smile.
As she processed what he had said, she began to blush. She let out a breath of relief.
"I'm so glad you're okay," she said.
He hugged her.
"Oyasuminasai (good night)," he said in a tender voice.
"Oyasuminasai," she said in her soft voice back.
Stepping into his room, he gave her one last brilliant smile before he closed the door.
Hinata walked to her room across the hall. Through her mind flowed all the images of the day, all the times Naruto ran into something as they hopped from roof top to roof top. She realized he had probably started regaining his sight the same time Tenten did. With her hand on the sliding door to her own room, Hinata looked back over her shoulder at the door to Naruto's quarters. She felt an immense feeling of joy and love and embarrassment welling up inside her chest. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine Naruto could like her this much. The worries of the day also mixed in with the turmoil of emotions swirling inside of her. "Naruto…no baka (Naruto you idiot)," she said with an affectionate smile, a sniffle, and a pair of eyes still glistening with tears.
Sakura stepped outside her front door with Sasuke after a dinner of her mother's cooking. They stood under a the warm yellow glow of a street lamp near her front door, the rest of the world awash in shades of blue and black from a clear, starlit night.
"Thanks again, Sakura, for all your help today," Sasuke said.
Sakura gave him the best smile she could muster.
"Well," Sasuke filled the awkward silence, "I'll see you tomorrow. You'll have time to help me again?"
"Yes," Sakura said, this time being the one of few words.
"Okay, then, oyasumi (good night)," he said, turning away from her to walk away.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said suddenly. He turned back around to fully face her, giving her a questioning look.
"Promise me…," she bit her lower lip, then continued, "Promise me you won't go after Orochimaru on your own. Promise me…promise me that you'll at least take me and Naruto with you…" she said, her voice slightly quivering.
"Ah," Sasuke conceded. Sakura looked up at him, then looked back down at the concrete sidewalk under her feet. Her worried eyes showed Sasuke that she wasn't the least bit reassured. His eyes softened as they looked at the worry that furrowed in her brow and played across her features. He took a few steps towards her.
"Sakura-chan," he said, raising his right hand to her with his pinky sticking out.
"Yakusoku desu (It's a promise)."
Sakura looked up at him startled, then looked down at his offered pinky, then back up to his face. The worry on her face softened into a happy smile. She lifted her own right hand and hooked her pinky around his.
"Yakusoku," she returned.
As their hands fell to their sides, she added jokingly, "And if you break this promise, Naruto and I will personally come find you, beat you up, and drag you back to Konoha!"
"Ah," Sasuke replied with a lopsided smile, glad to see that Sakura was again cheerful and full of fire.
As Sasuke made his way home bathed in the colors of a clear night sky, he decided to change his course. He headed for the path that led out of Konoha, and as he passed the bench that he had laid an unconscious Sakura on over two years ago, he thought to himself,
I still haven't mastered that technique…
Note: Sasuke! Where are you going! What technique? Stay tuned : D
