Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Italics = thoughts/flashbacks
Sakura (20) = present Sakura
Sakura (13) = past Sakura
Sasuke (20) = present Sasuke
Sasuke (13) = past Sasuke
Tsunade(past) = past Tsunade
Tsunade(present) = present Tsunade
Present (Older Sasuke and Sakura's Real World)
Tsunade was sitting at her desk thinking about two certain time travelers. Paper work was finally getting to bore her. What else was she supposed to do? Hearing the clatter of footsteps, Tsunade quickly continued with her work—pretending like she never had slacked off. The door to the hokage's office swung open revealing a panting Shizune.
"Ts…La…Lady Tsunade!" Shizune cried desperately.
The said hokage raised her head in boredom. Seeing the panic on Shizune's face, Tsunade turned serious.
"What happened?" she replied with a serious tone.
"The village is under attack!" Shizune exclaimed.
"WHAT?" Tsunade yelled, slamming her hands on her desk.
"Hurry! Come quick!"
Enough said, Tsuande stood and followed Shizune at a quick pace.
Shizune started explaining as quickly as possible, "It's Orochimaru and his followers. A jonin spotted them heading this way before a bomb set off in the middle of the village. We've concluded that there were some of his people already hidden in this village before today. It doesn't look so good. We better hurry."
Opening the door that lead to the village, Tsunade spotted total disaster. Homes were down, people were running everywhere, and Konoha doesn't even look like a village anymore. Why would he be attacking now? This thought led Tsunade to think of the note.
The treasure is gone. Defenses are down. Time to strike.
Understanding dawned on Tsunade.
"I should have understood it before!" Tsunade thought. "They were planning an attack this whole time. All this was because of the scroll. It started this all. Hopefully they come back with the scroll—both scrolls. If not, I'm afraid Konoha will go down."
"Let's go Shizune. Gather all jonins. We to get this under control and fast," Tsunade commanded.
"Yes Lady Tsunade," Shizune answered before she disappeared into disaster.
First Person POV- Sakura (20)
I jumped down from my position carefully making no sound. Looking left and right, I made sure no one was in sight before gesturing everyone else to follow. A loud clatter made me jump and I turned around to see Naruto grinning sheepishly.
"Be quiet Naruto!" younger Sakura whispered harshly.
"Just take off your shoes Naruto. We don't want this to happen for the fourth time do we?" I whispered to him with a glare.
He obeyed carrying his ninja sandals in one hand. Carefully maneuvering through the dim halls, I felt chakra up ahead. I held my hand out gesturing the others to stop.
"I can feel Kakashi's chakra," Sasuke whispered. "Behind a door. Two guards—both of equal strength and skills."
"Is that a good thing?" Naruto whispered.
"Yes, for us," Sasuke started—causing Naruto to grin. "No, for you."
Naruto's jaw dropped and replied, "What does that mean?"
"Shhh!" younger Sakura shushed him.
My blood froze as I suddenly felt that they caught Naruto's exclamation.
"What was that?" one of the guards asked the other.
"Don't know. Go checked it out," the second replied.
The suspense caused my heart to beat faster until the guard rounded the corner. Sasuke knocked him out quickly before the enemy had any say. Good. One down, one to go. I got out of my hiding place and slowly began to walk closer. I stopped before turning the corner to reveal myself.
"Found something?" the second guard asked—thinking I was one of his fellows.
Grabbing a kunai, I quickly flung it at his chest before he had time to react. Two down, none to go. Suspicion held my thought. This was easy, too easy. I gestured for the others to come. Putting my hand on the knob, I found the door to be open. I pushed it to reveal an unconscious Kakashi-sensei. The room inside was all gray. There were no windows, no furniture, nothing—just walls and a little lamp in the center.
"Kakashi-sensei!" younger Sakura exclaimed—running up to him in a worried state.
Before I had time to warn her that this might be a trap, the door slammed shut behind me and I fell to the ground in exhaustion. What's happening to me? It feels like my chakra is being sucked out of me at a quick pace.
I saw Kakashi-sensei open his eyes before croaking, "Get out of this room before it exerts you of all your chakra."
First Person POV- Naruto (13)
How long is this going to take?
My eye lids drooped once more. Sure, Sakura-chan told me to keep look out, but I think I'm about to fall asleep any moment now. The soft tapping of footsteps caused me to snap back into consciousness.
Finally! What took them so long!
I turned the corner thinking it was Sakura and the others. Surprised etched my face as I saw Masao mirror my expression. Before he had the time to scream or call for help, I quickly covered his mouth and drag him to an empty room. I shut the door before I glared at him—remembering what he did to me and my team.
"What are you doing here?" I asked Masao.
"That's what I was going to ask you!" Masao replied. "Aren't you supposed to be…"
Masao glazed at the ground in depression.
"Sorry," he said.
"Sorry? If you were going to say sorry, why did you even capture us in the first place?" I asked exasperated.
"It's complicated," Masao mumbled.
"Well, I have all day. How can my team just ditch me like that? I haven't seen them and it's almost been half an hour."
Masao fidgeted—avoiding my glaze—and stared, "Don't tell anyone I told you this, but…well…you see…we weren't like this before. We didn't use to kidnap strangers, follow under evil's orders, much less steal from anyone. It all started when our family was running low on money."
First Person POV- Masao
Flashback
"Again?" my mother asked as the front door opened to reveal my father and Ryo.
From the look on his eyes, I could tell he was tired of all this nonsense. My father slumped in a chair nearest my mother as she cooked dinner.
"What happened to all my customers? Where had they suddenly disappeared to?" My father asked no one in particular. "We were doing great when it opened. Now…I just don't get it. What did we do wrong?"
Last year, my father opened his own business—a restaurant—thinking it would be fun and a great profit. Customers came and went by—giving us a happy and carefree life. It was doing great until now. As the days passed by, people started to appear less and less until there was only two or three an hour. Although some restaurants did not agree—saying that we at least have some people, that was little to us. We used to be such a popular restaurant.
"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll get better within time," my mother smiled at my father encouragingly. "Come, let's have dinner."
"Let's just hope," my father replied with a sigh.
End of Flashback
"My mother's words weren't true," I told Naruto with a sad smile. "The two or three customers became none in time. My father had to close his restaurant due to bankruptcy and that's where it started."
I paused to risk a peak at Naruto's face. Blank.
I continued on, "We needed money badly. Each and every day, my father got even more agitated. That was until, that night—the night where everything changed. My father was asked a deal from a guy named Orochimaru."
Flashback
The front door slammed open to reveal my father.
"I got it!" my father exclaimed.
"What are you all excited about honey?" my mother asked—relieved to see my father in such a happy expression.
"I found a job for our family that could make us millions!"
My mother gasped in surprised and spread a warm smile onto her face, "Congratulations!"
My older brother walked into the room and asked, "What is it?"
My father avoided everyone's gaze when he explained. He fidgeted—acting like he was afraid of our reactions.
"I'm only doing this for the money, ok? It's quite easy if you don't get caught," my father explained. "All we need to do is steal some things, kidnap some people—maybe even eliminate them, and hide undercover."
The room filled with silence as everyone stared at my father in disbelief.
"Steal? Kidnap? Eliminate?" my mother exclaimed—breaking the silence. "Honey! I don't think this is necessary. Hurry and cancel the contract. We can find other things to do."
"Don't worry. You won't be doing any of those things. Ryo and I will. Masao will when he grows older."
My mother shook her head in disappointment.
"That's exactly the problem. I don't want Masao growing up like that. We can't risk the trouble. Please," my mother begged with pleading eyes. "Please cancel the contract."
"Sorry," my father apologized—walking towards my mother and embracing her in a comforting hug. "It's too late. Even if we back out now, where are we going to find a job that can give us as much money as this? Trust me. I won't disappoint you. It's for the betterment of the family."
My mother was quiet for a moment as if contemplating whether to argue again or not and then replied in a whisper, "I hope I don't regret trusting you. I'll let this go for now, but, if things get too complicated, I want this to stop. No buts or ifs."
My father smiled and let go while I just stood there in silence. Was this really a good idea? I know I have a bad feeling about this contract, but we need the money.
End of Flashback
"I didn't argue or agree that night. I just stood there like an idiot and now I'm regretting it," I told Naruto sadly. "After that day, my father always came home late. Sometimes he was gone for days. His personality did a complete one-eighty. I don't even think I know him anymore. That's not the worst of it though. My mother noticed this and tried to stop him from going on any other mission. She wanted him to stop this madness. It was one night that his anger finally snapped. He actually yelled at my mother—saying that she was a nuisance. From then on, my mother was quiet. She barely smiled. A month later, she left. She didn't say anything—just disappeared into thin air. I don't know where she is now, but I hope she's been living better than I am now. To my dislike, I had to obey my father. Even though I wanted to rebel, I couldn't. My brother told me that I had to and that it was my duty to help the family. Since that's what my father wants, we must follow."
"Wait," Naruto seethed.
I looked up to see Naruto in anger.
I slowly backed away a step before stuttering, "W…wh…what?"
"You didn't say anything?" Naruto exclaimed. "How can you just let them do anything they want if you don't even like it?"
"You don't understand! I can't! I looked up to my father in childhood. I don't know what to do. I'm frustrated! How can someone I look up to turn to that? Now, the only one I can look up to is my older brother. He doesn't like this whole contract thing either, but he has to do what he has to do—he says that's what I have to do. I know it's wrong, but…Can't you see how confused I am? How could I oppose something that can potentially make my family happier? "
"The problem is that it didn't."
"Yeah, well I know that now," I whispered, looking down. "How ironic right? Since my name, Masao, means justice. I'm doing the exact opposite—harming instead of saving."
Naruto was about to say something when the door creaked open. My blood froze—realizing what I had just done. How could I just tell my life story to just anyone? I'm in serious trouble. I slowly turned my head—hoping it isn't anyone important or anyone who could rat me out.
"Masao, what are you doing in here?" my brother asked.
Thanks for reading the 33rd chapter of "Strength of Love".
Longest chapter yet. Woo hoo!
No romance in this chapter, sorry. I will hopefully in the next.
Just gave a basic idea why Masao and his family do what they do.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Lincoln's Day too!
Please review. =)