Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine. Blah blah blah.

It's been a while, huh? I can almost feel the readers' murderous rage towards me right now. I actually am scared of you guys right now.

I'm really really sorry. Really. I didn't want to make you wait all this time just to piss you off. Just hear me out, okay? I know I promised to update this story, errr, a month ago. But it's just that it just really took a while to finish this. You see, the scene in this chapter between Naru and Saku is the basis for this story. I mean, I built the whole story around it. And it is a big deal for me to make this really good. It took some time. This is the hardest chapter I've had to write yet. So I hope you understand. Please please forgive me?

If you don't, I understand. But for those who do, thank you for sticking with this story. It means a lot. This is my Christmas gift to you guys. You're also free to give me a gift by reviewing. Thanks! Hope you like this. :)

Chapter 12: Hero

One may think we're alright

But we need pills to sleep at night

We need lies to make it through the day

We're not okay

-Pills

The familiar cold of night caressed his face and enveloped his body with the grace of an unseen lover. The almost metallic feel of the blades of grass tickled his toes as he walked briskly towards the main house which looked as gloomy and uninviting as the first time he had ever laid eyes on it as a boy. His fisted hands clenched more firmly as he approached his destination. He unceremoniously yanked the beautifully-crafted sliding doors of the traditional house, ignoring the gasp of the several servants behind it. He didn't even bother to take off his sandals.

"Where is he?" he asked in a cold voice, with a bare hint of suppressed anger.

"H-He's having his usual tea, N-Neji-sama" the poor servant answered meekly. The way she managed her retort reminded him of his lovestruck cousin. She's been rubbing off on these servants, he thought.

"Where's Hinata?" he supplied.

"A-ano…" the servant started. She bowed even lower as if deeply pondering on her answer. Judging by the servant's hesitation to answer her master, his uncle must have put her in hiding for humiliating him and the entire clan. She would probably be never allowed to be seen by the public for a long time, at least until the "incident" that happened subsided.

Irritated by the lack of response, he decided to end the servant's agony and proceeded to the quarters where his uncle was. Shinobi classes in the academy had taught him to pick his own battles, learn to back down, even retreat if the odds were against him, especially if there would be a better opportunity to confront the enemy later. He learned to never engage in battle without thinking any plans through. It had helped him accomplish even the most dangerous of missions without compromising any of his team members. This was one of the few times that he would betray this belief. It was his uncle's damn fault that he had never felt so much rage.

He found his uncle Hyuuga Hiashi in the middle of this large room sitting in front of a delicately crafted table. His guards stood three paces or so behind him. He wore a straight face, his lips forming a thin line as he poured himself some Oolong tea. He didn't even look up as Neji entered the room in one swift stride. He knew that his uncle knew why he was there.

There was not a doubt in his mind that his lunatic of an uncle was the one behind the attack on Sakura. Nothing that was found on the corpses indicated any connection to the Hyuuga or their techniques, but he knew damn well that it was Hiashi's. He also knew that Tsunade was aware of this, but did not know for the life of him why the Hokage had refused to inquire on his uncle. It angered him more that she has ordered an end to the investigation of the attack.

Few people and even fewer shinobi today has seen the head of the clan's techniques in an actual fight, but Neji has heard of his uncle's animation technique. He had never really seen it, but back when he was a boy he remembered that his father had these strange-looking puppets that he trained with. His uncle probably had them after his father's death. He could feel all his restraints coming loose as he drew a deep breath.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" he hissed.

"Having my usual tea, of course" his uncle replied, obviously catching on his nephew's worse than foul mood, but still not bothering to look at him.

"You tried to kill her!" Neji bellowed, taking a step closer to his uncle. The guards of the clan head moved to restrain the seething Hyuuga but Hiahi signaled to let him be.

Neji tried counting to a hundred in his head summoning whatever was left of his patience waiting for his uncle's reply. Hiashi put down his cup after taking a quick sip and wiped his mouth with a clean cloth.

"You have no idea what you have gotten yourself into," he finally said, his gaze settling on Neji. There wasn't any indication of emotion in those eyes.

"You made her life a living hell already. You had what you wanted. Why try to kill her now? Just for the shit of it? Just like what you did to my father - "

"ENOUGH!" Hyuuga Hiashi's voice echoed throughout the main house like a lion's roar. His temples tightened with the appearance of large veins as his face shook with malevolence that only the head of the clan can muster.

Along with his menacing voice came the uncontrollable pain shooting from the center of Neji's skull and rampaging throughout his body. He immediately fell on the floor, his lower body unable to support him anymore. This was the first time he felt the effects of the Caged Seal for the branch members of the family. He imagined the strain to his body that would come with it, but he did not expect the unimaginable pain that would follow. It felt like his whole body was being shred into pieces, his bones being crushed to ash, while his brain threatened to explode. His arms and legs moved as if being twisted by an invisible force. He forced to restrain the scream that formed in his throat, refusing to give his uncle the satisfaction of victory. He bit his lower lip with his teeth so hard that blood came oozing down his chin.

Hiashi approached his writhing nephew and knelt in front of him, grasping his bloody chin and forcing the branch member to look at him.

"You think you have this figured out, huh, Neji? What did you even think of accomplishing by coming here? It's only because of me that you managed to look after that girl this long. Don't even fool yourself for one second that you that anything you do is not controlled by the Hyuuga clan. By me. If I ordered you to kill that girl you would have no choice but do it. Remember that," he said in a low but dangerous voice. "And stop trying to be a hero for that girl. It is very unlike you," he added.

Neji could only manage a croak in response. He was practically swimming in pain barely registered the threat that his uncle imposed on him. He was still trembling by the time Hyuuga Hiashi had canceled the technique and started to leave the rooms, his guards following suit. Before Neji passed out, he faintly remembered his uncle's voice.

"It was really rude for you to interrupt my tea time."

He arrived at his apartment still exhausted from his encounter with his uncle, now enraged more than ever. He stumbled through the door, placing his palm on the table for support. His body was too weary it demanded rest but Neji refused to succumb to the need to lie down. He scrambled towards his closet and with trembling hands reached out to a scroll. He slumped on the floor of his bedroom and unrolled the said item. He coughed a small amount of blood to his side before taking a deep breath. He read the patterns and signs that were written in it over and over again, trying to memorize it with his hands.

"This is still in the first stages. It would be far too dangerous to test it at this time. But in the future someone may be able to help you improve it."

That was what she said. Sakura would never forgive him for what he was about to do, but he knew he had to do it. It was amazing how at her state she was able to create such a scroll. Neji was not about to let it go to waste. It wasn't just about him anymore, it was about her safety. While the seal still holds with him, he would not be able to protect her.

The caged seal, according to the scroll was like a lock on a Hyuuga, both physically and mentally. It hypothesized how it would open with a key. This key lay in the body of the one with the seal. It could only be unlocked through a precise flow of chakra with complex chakra spots. This chakra route traveled from his hara, around his vital organs and finally towards his brain, as if in a puzzle. One wrong route would result to one's death. Sakura must have figured it out given how sensitive her chakra points were when the seal was on her. But it was a different case, that's why she warned him not to try it.

For once in his emotion-ridden life, he realized how sick he was of being controlled. The death of his father warned him of how defiance was dealt in his clan, and that led him to a life of subduction and forced servitude to the main branch. He thought now that his father never obeyed because he was forced to do it, he obeyed to protect his son, who would be left without a place in the clan should he fail to plead loyalty. It was time to make a choice. And that's exactly what he was doing.

With precision and practiced speed, he formed a series of what seemed like hundreds of seals, not stopping until he felt his chakra building around his hara. Without a second thought, he had let go of his chakra. What ensued was a pain worse than what he had experienced with his uncle. He had to hold the route or else it would end. He must have been delirious but as he slumped once more on the floor, he saw or dreamed his father in front of him, looking at him with the same eyes as he remembered. He wore his traditional outfit, but his feet were bare. He looked at peace, but his eyes looked sad. Do not be sad, Father, he thought. I am doing this for you. For us.

Hyuuga Hizashi stood still. As Neji released a scream towards his father, he felt as if his body parts were releasing from their hold on him. If this was the end, he would not go down without a fight. He made to clamp one last time on his chakra control, and let the image of his father move towards him as if to envelope his being.

The hospital was just the way he remembered. He used to hang around here all the time, pestering Sakura for dates and annoying Tsunade-baachan and Shizune as he tries to help filing the medical records alphabetically. Sakura would most of the time be in the surgical wing, or sometimes she'd be taking patient rounds. Naruto would always find a sleep-deprived Sakura in this big building and he'd never fail to irritate the living crap out of her. But then again, he'd also kept her awake by doing so. It felt like it happened a long time ago, like it was now only a fleeting memory. He couldn't believe it.

There were a lot of things he couldn't believe. A week ago, he had everything he wanted coming into place. A week ago, he only had nightly nightmares of the girl he thought betrayed him. A week ago, he was alright with the nightmares even though his heart clenched painfully when he thought about it. A week ago, he was hell bent on forcing himself to fall in love with the pale eyed woman. He couldn't believe that everything was fine a week ago, because truthfully, as it turns out, it wasn't.

The corridors were as quiet as they should be. Patients were already asleep as nurses file records at the station. He often played ghost pranks on nurses during graveyard shifts which always earned him a sucker punch from Sakura. He always did it because the night makes the Konoha hospital a somber place. His eyes wander to the white walls as he takes careful steps towards the stairs. He didn't realize it, but his hands were sweaty despite the cold air that surrounded the hospital.

He couldn't name what he felt when Kakashi-sensei approached him with Sakura's request to meet with him. There were so many things he wanted to ask her, tell her. When he had decided to hate Sakura for leaving him and betraying him for Sakura, never in that time did he stop and consider the possibility that he maybe wrong. He knew that that kiss they had before the war meant something, but it was overwhelmed by the stabbing pain in his heart that told him that she had just used him to get to Sasuke. He had been so blind, all because he was willing to be blind. Sakura had actually saved him that day, but for reasons he couldn't fathom. Why should she do it?

"You just have to find out things for yourself, Naruto. Go talk to her," Kakashi had said.

He was nearing his destination and he thought he was going to have a heart attack. What would he say to her? Did Sakura hate him now? After all she's been through because of him, she should be. Not even a thank you was appropriate for this kind of encounter with her. Should he say sorry then? He should. And more. But he didn't know where to start. The first time he saw her in three years was four days ago when she was attacked. The sight of her pale body all bloodied was all it took to give him an intense blow to the chest. It all boiled down to one thing – he was the one who caused her to give up everything, her career, her friends, her life. And what did he give her in return? Three years of suffering.

He had never hated himself the way he did right now, and that included the first time he realized he couldn't bring Sasuke back, and the time when he hurt Sakura in Kyuubi form.

He stepped into the dim-lighted corridor of the pediatric section. A few steps away stood the pale form of a young woman. She was facing at a wide transparent glass, thoughtfully gazing at the new lives in the world. Naruto knew she was aware of his presence, but didn't acknowledge it right away. He held his breath as he approached Sakura. Her pale face was illuminated by the light from the infants' room. Her hair was so long now that it reached her lower back. Her forehead, no longer adorned by her forehead protector, was now grazed with pink bangs. She wore a long hospital gown and a thick brown sweater which did not hide how thin she was. She hid her hands in the pockets of her sweater. Her paleness struck him. Sakura had been a fair-skinned woman, but now she looked too white and anemic.

He stopped a few steps from her where she still faced the infants laying on their cribs. He faintly noticed that there were probably ten infants in the room, but he remained facing her side. Kakashi didn't exactly tell him which room Sakura would be, but something told him that he should check out the pediatrics section first. Back when Sakura was still in medic-training and became frustrated and upset, she'd go here and look at the cute babies.

He uneasily released a breath, pondering on whether he should say something first. She took a hand from her pocket, laid it on the glass, and opened her mouth to speak.

"That baby, third one from the left, he cries every twenty minutes. I think he has blue eyes," she commented. He noticed that her voice was weak, almost only a notch higher than a whisper. Whether it was to not disturb the babies or because of something else, he wasn't sure. "That one to his right, he's so quiet. He doesn't even stir from his sleep when the other babies cry," she pointed. "And that one on the center, she always wakes up but doesn't cry. She moves her arms and little fingers a lot. The nurse has to tend to her regularly to cover her with her blanket," she noted with a smile. When was the last time he saw her smile?

A pregnant pause surrounded them as Sakura just continued to look at the glass in front of her. He summoned a deep breath and let out a croaked voice.

"S-Sak-kura…" he started. Naruto seldom stuttered. Not in front of the enemy. Not in the face of death. But now, in front of Sakura, when he knew how much damaged he had caused, he didn't have what it takes to put up a brave face.

Sakura slowly turned her head from the glass. For the first time in the longest time, she looked at him with her emerald eyes. Her lips formed a small smile, the kind she used to give him, as if nothing in her life had gone horribly wrong. "You're taller," she said, her gaze settling on the top of his head and falling back on his eyes. They stayed like that for a while, and then returned to looking at the babies. "You found me here. I can't believe you remembered," she added with what Naruto heard was a faint giggle.

She talked as if nothing was wrong. She smiled at him as if nothing was wrong. His heart beat so fast as he tried to once again find his voice.

"Is it true?" he asked. He needed to hear from her, needed to know what made her keep that kind of thing from him, even if it meant that he would consider it her betrayal.

"You weren't supposed to know," she answered without looking at him. Her eyes had slightly narrowed in a low gaze as she pulled back her frail-looking hand back to the pocket of her sweater. His breath hitched at her answer.

"Wha…Why w-"

"Because." She interrupted before he could string his question. "You can actually pick your reason from a variety of answers," she said. "One, it could be because of a shinobi's duty. When one comrade is fallen in the team, especially if that comrade is necessary for the success of a mission, the less important comrade sacrifices herself if necessary for the fallen comrade. For the success of the mission, or to win a war. Actually, what I did was fairly similar to what every Konoha shinobi does in every mission when he or she has to protect a team mate. In my case, I was just weak, so the repercussions were a bit..more complicated."

Naruto tried to form a response but Sakura continued speaking.

"Two, it could be because I wanted to give you my payback. You have saved my life more times than I can count. You put your life in danger for me every single time. It was about time I tried to save you, even for just one time. Though I hardly think that's enough payback, " she spoke in a firm tone now.

"Sakura…"

"Three, it could be because I was doing it, for the safety of the whole shinobi world. You were the child in the prophecy Jiraiya was talking about. I saved you for a greater cause. Because you were going to bring peace. And you are going to end the war. Imagine how it would suck if I let you burn and die there while I watched. The whole shinobi world would be on my ass for not even remotely trying to save you. That would suck big time," she added now with a hint of amusement.

"Stop joking around…" he warned.

"You see, those reasons are sufficient enough for why I did technique to bind the Kyuubi to you," she said with the loudest voice she had since they started the conversation. Her face visibly softened as she said her next words turning to him and looking at his eyes. "You can just pick a reason from those three. Because if I told you, the real, simple reason why I did it… Then it wouldn't be fair. To both of us," she said almost inaudibly.

She looked at him softly, her hand moving in her pocket, as if to reach out to him, but she stopped. "You were burning in front of me. And you were screaming so loud. Your skin was already peeling from your flesh. How could I not save you?"

Naruto's heart clenched horrible in his chest, almost coaxing him to break down and cry, to hold her tight and apologize over and over. But he didn't. He knew what she meant. Her reason was the same as his every time he put his life on the line to save her.

"You could have told me," he said, trembling.

"No. That was never part of the plan. If I had told you, you'd be distracted again. And you'd want to save me. You would be sidetracked from going after your dream to be the Hokage. And you would look so helpless and confused, just like the way you're looking at me now," she pointed out.

"You could have told me," he repeated, partly because her reason wasn't good enough, and partly because he couldn't say anything else.

"You already thought that I had gone to Sasuke. After I bound the Kyuubi to you, I tried to look for help and then I found him. He needed help too. I didn't know where I got the strength but I healed his eyes and made him promise something in return. I saved him…because he is our brother. By the time I was about to return to you, you were already so mad and wouldn't listen to me. You had already convinced yourself that I didn't stay with you, so I thought since I couldn't tell you the truth, why not let you think that?"

His face twisted in agony upon hearing her words. Years and years of rejection and failure had led Naruto believe that he wasn't good enough for anything. Sakura had loved Sasuke for so long that he automatically chose betrayal over love.

"Don't' look like at me like that," he heard her say.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like you pity me," she answered. No, he thought. That wasn't true. What he pitied was himself. "I deserved it, you know."

He looked at her in disbelief.

"That story of me going to Sasuke and leaving you, that was completely plausible, believable even. I have always made you feel like I'm using you, like you were a poor replacement for Sasuke. It's really not your fault that you believed it. Everyone else would have believed it," she urged.

"I'm not telling you now so I'd make you feel guilty. I'm telling you now… because I want you to let this go," she said in a pleading voice.

"And just what kind of person do you think I am?" he said, incredulous to her proposal.

"You're Naruto. You're inhumanly kind. And you have this innate urge to save everyone else. But this time, you just have to let this go. Believe it or not, this, what happened to me for the past three years was the best way to go for me. It made me realize how weak I am to be a shinobi. Leaving the ranks and living as a civilian made me at ease, because then I won't have the opportunity to screw things up and endanger any more lives."

She took a step towards him so that he's only an arm's length away. "I've lived a good life. Lots and lots of mistakes, but saving you was the one right thing that I did. It's a good life. Now, you, on the other hand, have a long way to go. You're gonna be the Hokage, and you're gonna have a whole village who loves you…. And you're a gonna have a family with a wonderful woman. You're gonna have a long and happy life because you deserve it more than anyone." With one hand, she reached for the hem of his jacket, just touching the fabric. Naruto could almost feel her cold hand. "This thing with me is way too little and insignificant for you to worry about. I'm just a little sick. And it'll be over in a few months… I'm only sorry that I didn't leave our shinobi team earlier. Look at you, rising through the ranks in just three years… I have been holding you back, haven't I?"

"That's not true," he said, moving his hand so he could hold her hand that was now clutching his jacket, but she moved it away before he could.

"Yes, it is. See? Such a kind young man. Stop consoling me. You hate me remember?" she reminded.

"Sakura, I..I," he started, stuttering again.

"Hinata-san, she's good for you. Real strong woman. If I have played any part for the delay of your wedding, I do apologize," she said sincerely.

"They put a seal on you," he defended.

"Only to keep me from hurting you again. Hinata-san loves you, that I'm sure of. And she just wanted to protect you from me. I unconsciously hurt you all the time back then, and I think she recognized that. I wouldn't hold it against her if I were you. You could have a great life together," she said. By now, all Naruto was hearing was the loud beating of his heart and the fast pace of his pulse. No, he didn't have a happy life without her for the past three years. No, he fooled himself that he could be happy with someone else. No, now he couldn't forgive anyone who hurt Sakura, including the Hyuugas, including himself, especially himself.

"They hurt you," he said painfully. I hurt you.

"I hurt myself, Naruto," she whispered, saying his name for the first time. The way she said it brought all those feelings he buried and chained away in his heart for so long. Just like that, in a snap second, he felt all his hate towards her wash away, leaving a feeling of longing. It was as if all this time he had just convinced himself that he held ill feelings towards her. His love for her had been masked as viral resentment. The need to reach out to her was becoming unbearable. "I hurt you too. I broke every single promise I gave you that day. And I am deeply sorry for that," she added, placing her hand in front of her chest to tell him that she meant it. "I only want you to be happy. Please be."

Naruto took two steps towards her, intending to hold her face in his hands, to tell her that she doesn't need to feel that way because it was all his fault. Damn his pride. But before he could, a voice behind Sakura echoed from where they stood.

"Sakura, you need to get back to your room," the voice said as its speaker approached Sakura. He had long hair tied in a low pony and wore a white robe. He remembered that guy. He was Sakura's doctor, according to Shizune when they walked out of the Hokage's office.

Sakura turned her head to acknowledge the man. "Okay. Just a minute. Please Haji?" she said. The man curtly nodded and took a step back to be out of earshot. Sakura returned her gaze to Naruto.

"I have to go. Take care of yourself, okay?" she said, turning her back to him.

"Wait…" Naruto started.

"You know," she interrupted again. "I used to think that if our life was a story for a novel, then you'd be the hero who saves the day and I'd be the heroine, the one who's by your side all the time and the one you come home to." Her shoulders slightly slumped as she continued. "But I'm wrong. I'm just the annoying minor character who thinks so full of herself and all the readers just hate and bash her. She has to die in the end so the story could end happily for the hero."

"Stop it, Sakura. Just stop it!" he said, infuriated. Sakura was thinking all wrong and it made him want to punch wall to make her stop. He wanted her to face him again. But she made no move to do so.

"I'm sorry. I'm making you mad again... Don't worry," she said, turning only her face to look at him. "This is the last time."

With that, she walked away towards her doctor. The man let her walk past him as she vanished from Naruto's view. Naruto remained frozen to the spot, wanting to follow the young woman but his body didn't obey.

Before Sakura's doctor walked away and followed his patient. He turned to Naruto and said, "You know what annoys the hell out of me? Sakura used to be so strong. And now, thanks to all of you, you've managed to make her convince herself just how weak she is and how she deserves to die. You should be ashamed of yourself."

He didn't need to tell Naruto that. He already did.

The walk back to her hospital room was quiet and agonizing. Haji walked silently behind her as they passed the other rooms.

"I had to do it," she said as she walked ahead of him.

"I know," the brown-eyed doctor said.

"Did it go well?"

"It could've gone way worse… I could've cried."

"You've had three years of poker face practice," Haji pointed out.

"Yeah." Silence again.

"Did it hurt?" he finally said.

"Like hell," she answered. Haji thought that after three years of not seeing the young man would've helped Sakura let go of her feelings for the blond. Apparently, he was wrong. The pain he knew Sakura still felt was like that of a fresh wound. Not even time could heal it.

When they were just two doors away from her room, they noticed a man sitting in front of the bench across Sakura's door.

"Goodie. Dad's here," Haji commented in a serious voice. Sakura just sighed as she walked towards Neji. "I just need to get your file from the nurse's station. I'll be right back," he said as he walked in the opposite direction, fully confident that someone was looking after Sakura.

Sakura took a seat next to the pale-eyed Hyuuga clad in civilian clothes. She didn't want to lie in her bed yet.

"Haji said you were probably talking to him," he said as he stared at her door.

"I'm still mad at you, remember?" she responded.

It had been no more than a day since Hyuuga Neji was rushed into Dr. Haji Yuy's care as his body was in full shock. It turned out that he attempted to break the caged seal from his body using no more than Sakura's highly experimental-stage scroll manual and his will. Even though it miraculously worked and Neji was still functional after his attempt, Sakura and Neji still received the scolding of a lifetime from the handsome doctor. He yelled at Sakura for giving Neji that scroll and he yelled at Neji for being stupid enough to try it.

"You shouldn't be," Neji said. His forehead was covered in bandage. It would be weird to see him without the markings of the seal on his forehead.

"I told you to not try it soon," she said in an angry voice. Though she clearly posed no threat when it comes to hitting him, Neji still felt some amount of fear on his part.

"I talked to the Hokage earlier," he stated. "Obviously, Hiashi wants to execute me for breaking the seal and he wants me to surrender your scroll."

Sakura visible stiffened at this, momentarily forgetting her anger for the Hyuuga beside her.

"What did Tsunade say?" she asked, looking at Neji.

"There's no part of the law which states what will happen to a branch member who breaks away from the seal. After all, it wasn't even possible until now. So the Hokage is trying to settle this without killing me in the process. I'll be staying with you for the meantime." Clearly, he wasn't welcome in the Hyuuga quarters anymore.

"With me? Have you seen my apartment? You're better off in a hotel," she said.

"Someone needs to protect you."

"Someone needs to back off. I'm fine on my own."

"We both know that my uncle was the one behind the attack. Hell, even the Hokage knows it. The fact that she doesn't do anything about it makes it not true."

"It's because of me that you're breaking away from your family," she said.

"You're my family now. Family protects each other," he replied. He honestly did not regret breaking the seal. He had never felt more freedom than what he felt now. He was interrupted from his thoughts by a faint chuckle from the young woman beside him.

"I didn't know you could get sentimental, Dad," she teased.

"Haji's rubbing off on me," he teased back.

"HEY!" Haji shouted as he approached the two, intending on defending himself. Sakura just laughed louder. At that moment, he felt what it was like to have a real family. This was his family. He was going to protect it with his life.

Midnight came with a torrent of thin rain falling. Nothing could be heard but the steady tap tap of water falling onto everything it reaches. Sasuke Uchiha stood in the center of a pile of scrolls in the basement of the Uchiha manor where he had been looking at confidential files for the past two days. He was reading one particular scroll as Suigetsu came down the dusty stairs.

"We found him," the shark-looking man said.

"Where?" the dark-eyes man inquired.

"He was previously at the Konoha Hospital. But then he left. And now, well…" Suigetsu said as he faltered in continuing the sentence.

"Suigetsu…" Sasuke warned, his patience already wavering.

"Okay, okay! He's out in the woods destroying things. You know, uprooting trees, rasengan-ing boulders. You know, the works," Suigetsu said amusedly.

"I see."

"Must be really upset," Suigetsu said off-handedly.

Sasuke Uchiha took his coat and replaced the Kusanagi sword in its holster. He walked up the stairs and towards the oak door of the mansion.

"Stay here," he ordered his team.

He needed to do this alone. It was time to talk to Naruto.

To be continued…

SO! Whaddaya think? You like it? Please review. Thanks! Happy holidays!