Chapter Thirty-Five; Lost and Found

"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted on the top of his lungs while peering through the cold, damp, darkness as best as he could with the use of his headlights through the pouring rain. He didn't even care that he was getting soaking wet. (although a part of him wished he had taken his car instead) He felt his heart pounding against his chest worrying himself sick over the status of his little brother. Finally he reluctantly decided to give up and went home.

"Sasuke," Sakura began anxiously as she watched her husband walk through the front door. "what took you so long? You're soaking wet." She told him as a roll of thunder sounded in the distance and a flash of lightning lit up the sky. That's when Sasuke turned to look at her and she saw that his eyes were full of tears. "Sasuke,.. what happened? Is Naruto alright?" she asked him before to her complete horror and astonishment he collapsed onto his knees and started sobbing hysterically.

"I lost him Sakura! I lost my baby brother!" he sobbed inside his hands. "It's all my fault! I shouldn't have accepted that letter! I couldn't protect Hokori and stop him from dying, and now I've lost one of the best friends I ever had!" he told her before he continued to sob and his tears continually rolled down his cheek. "And I love him so much!" he exclaimed before Sakura knelt down in front of him.

"I know you do Sasuke. Just tell me what happened." She whispered softly and soothingly before he sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

"He got mad at me when I told him that we were leaving. Then he ran away and I couldn't keep up with him." He explained with another sniff and a wipe of his nose.

"Alright here's what we're going to do. I'll go out and take Taki with me. He can track Naruto's scent. Meanwhile I want you to stay here with Hiro and Sasame will be home soon so you can keep her company as well. Then I want you to call the police. That way you'll be here in case he comes back. Just please promise me that whatever you do, try to keep both our children as calm as possible." She told him as he nodded sadly back at her.

"I will. As long as you promise me that you'll do whatever it takes to find Naruto. I can't live without him." He told her.

"Don't worry Sasuke, I'll find him. And I'll bring him back to you. I promise. And promises are something that I never break." She told him as she gently touched his shoulder before slowly rising to her feet and then headed over to the door and removed Taki's leash off its hook.

….

Sakura yawned as Taki led her though the woods. She had spent the entire night looking for Naruto and she figured that the rest of her family probably didn't get much if any sleep either. "Naruto!" Sakura called as loud as she could while she led Taki to a stop. "This is crazy! Where is he!?" she hollered. She didn't want to admit it, but she was just as worried about her brother as Sasuke was. That's when suddenly Taki started pulling on his leash and finally managed to yank it out of her hand and ran away. "Hey! Taki! Come back here!" Sakura snapped before she started chasing after him.

After a few minutes the dog came to a stop in front of an old oak tree while sniffing the bottom of the trunk and wagging his tail excitedly. "Taki,.. you silly dog. Did you find a squirrel or something?" she asked him before she felt something small hit her on the top of her head. "Ouch!" she exclaimed as she grabbed both side of her heads and slowly tilted her head back. "Stupid tree." She muttered underneath her breath before she realized that she saw Naruto's legs dangling outside of the treehouse. "Naruto?" she questioned with uncertainty before she turned around and started climbing up the wooden steps that were nailed to the trunk. Sure enough Naruto was there to greet her.

"Huh? Sakura? What are you doing here?" he asked her when suddenly Sakura felt a burst of rage inside her and punched him on the top of his head leaving a gigantic lump upon it afterwards.

"Ouch! Hey! What the fuck was that for!?" Naruto shrieked.

"You idiot! What are you doing here!? Sasuke's worried sick about you you know!" she hollered but that's when Naruto heaved a deep and heavy sad sigh.

"Or maybe he's just plain sick of me." He said.

"Don't be ridiculous! Sasuke loves you! When are you going to get that through that thick skull inside your head!?" Sakura shouted as Naruto slowly turned his head and glanced over at her.

"When he decides to start keeping his promises." He told her before she took a deep breath and finally started to calm down.

"Look Naruto, I know you're upset but you've got to realize that just because we're moving away doesn't mean that we'll never see each other again. I mean it's the twenty-first century for heaven's sake. Everyone except for Hiro has a cellphone. And we can always write and visit each other." She told him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Naruto began. "But it's just not going to be the same without you guys around. I'm really going to miss you." He told her before she placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder.

"I know and we're going to miss you too. But right now you really need to come back with me and talk to Sasuke so that he knows you're alright." She told him as Naruto agreed and then they both turned around and started climbing back down the tree again.