When I woke up, I was in my own bed but someone had banged loudly on the door with a startling crash and immediately I was up on my feet with my sickle and chain in my hand, facing the person in a blur as I moved to the front room but I stopped when I saw it was Shikamaru outside. "Oh, Shikamaru, what are you doing here so early?" I asked him with a frown, casually hanging up my weapon which had made Shikamaru's eyes widen a little fearfully before he relaxed.
"I need Naruto for a mission. It's…about Sasuke." Instantly I grabbed him and pulled him inside.
"NARUTO GET UP! What about Sasuke? Is he alright? What happened? Tell me!" I pleaded and Shikamaru looked at me like I was crazy.
"Gee, this is such a pain. Well, Sasuke kind of left the village last night to join up with Orochimaru or whatever. Fifth Hokage asked me to put together a team to go drag him back here." He told me however before he'd even finished his sentence I had dropped to the floor, staring into space as everything instantly shut down. "Uh…are you okay?"
"Are you serious?! Sasuke just left!" Naruto yelled, quickly waking up from his daze as his mouth dropped open. "Wait just a minute, I'll just change real fast!" He yelled, rushing back into his room whilst ripping off his sleeping cap. Sasuke left. With Orochimaru. Why would he do that? What happened? Had Itachi showing up really shook him that badly? That idiot! I would have helped him, done anything for him to make this right! I had been so close to finally freeing him of his pain and now this had to happen. "Don't worry Aunt Yume, I'll definitely bring Sasuke back then you and I can beat him on the head and lecture him for being so stupid." Naruto's voice snapped me awake and I slowly lifted my head, seeing him standing me whilst exuberating confidence and clarity. "Make sure you think of some good things to say to him, he'll need a firm talking to when I drag him back here. Believe it."
I was…astonished. Naruto looked so mature when he talked to me like that whilst I sat helplessly on the floor like a little girl. "Naruto…" Knowing that he was right and that I had to put my faith in him, I quickly slapped my cheeks and pulled myself to my feet, reaching out and placing my hand on his shoulder. "Be gentle with him when dragging him back, okay?" Giving the largest smile I could given the situation, Naruto grinned back at me before disappearing with Shikamaru. "Stay safe! Shikamaru! Make sure Naruto doesn't do something stupid!" I yelled after them and they turned back to wave again though Naruto shook his fist at me.
"Hey! I don't do stupid stuff anymore! I'm a strong and powerful ninja on his way to becoming Hokage ya know, believe it!" Finally I gave a laugh, placing my hands on my hips as I lifted my head proudly.
"I do. I do believe it Naruto. Get out there and don't let me down." With a fist against my chest I then held out towards him, saying goodbye properly. "I'll be waiting for you both." They disappeared after that and I constantly battled with myself to keep from worrying too much. I didn't even summon Kazeryu to go after my nephew, choosing to have faith in him and I did not want to betray my belief in him and his trust in my by undermining him in such a way. He'll bring Sasuke home. He had to.
Forcibly shaking my head I gathered my things and got ready for my next mission. Only one night of rest and the next one was lined up, we were stretched thin with our ranks having been decreased after Orochimaru's attack. I collected my mission scroll then disappeared from the village, melting into the sunlight and travelling far across the country into parts of Konoha I had never explored before. My mission took me three days to complete but I came back with high hopes, expecting to find Naruto and Sasuke at home, probably arguing but they'd stop just for me so I'd be happy that they were pretending to get along.
When I approached the main gate, however, Kakashi was leaning against the great wooden column and the moment I saw his face, I knew it had all gone horribly wrong. I froze, coldness freezing every function in my body until I was blind, deaf and dumb. I dreaded the worst and it must have been blatant in my expression as Kakashi came towards me with a soft voice. "He's alive, but he and Sasuke fought with the intent to kill. I'm sorry Yume but he's badly wounded and Sasuke…well…we lost him." In that moment, I felt a greater failure than ever before in my life. Worse than when I had let friends and comrades die around me, worse than when I had not been able to reach Kushina and Minato on time. I felt worse because this time, time had been something I had in abundance to save Sasuke but still I had not been good enough.
For a long moment, almost an eternity I stood there, processing everything before slowly I stepped forwards, my face dropping into an expressionless mask as I reached forwards and pulled his head into my shoulder. "It must have been hard for you Kashi, he was your student. You knew him in ways I could never understand." I said, not knowing what else to say but then I let go of him, drifting like I were in a dream to make my way to the hospital. "I'll go see Naruto now, he must be hungry…I should bring him some snacks…maybe his sleeping cap too…" I was talking nonsense now but I couldn't think of anything else to do except wallow in the short time it took me to get to the hospital.
When I stood outside his door I took a deep breath then pushed it open, fixing a soft smile to my lips as Naruto turned his bandaged head to look at me. Instantly he started to crumble, lower lips quivering and snot running down his nose so I walked over and lifted him up to settle his head in my lap. "It's okay Naruto, there's always next time." I told him softly, brushing back his hair and grabbing a tissue to make him clean himself up before it got too bad. "You might not have succeeded this time, but Sasuke is still alive and so long as that's true then we can always bring him back home. Next time, you'll make him see straight. I still believe in you." Snivelling slightly Naruto sucked in deep breaths, trying to remain calm.
"I'm sorry aunty…I tried my best I really did but I just wasn't strong enough in the end. I'll train harder, it'll be different from now on I swear. This time, you won't have to carry all the burdens alone. I'll be the one to save Sasuke, so don't you worry about it one bit!" He told me drastically, distressed by his failure and great pain from losing a friend and brother like figure so I calmed him down, making him settle back on the bed as I situated myself to embrace him from behind.
"If there's anyone who can get through to Sasuke, it'll be you Naruto. I leave him in your capable hands so for now, just focus on healing properly. Take all the time you need, there's no rush. I'll handle missions and taking care of the village, so don't concern yourself with anything else, alright?" Naruto nodded his head and closed his eyes, soon enough falling back to sleep as it was late at night. I could tell he hadn't been sleeping much so I stayed with him, keeping him comfortable and watching over him so that if ever he should have a nightmare I was there to chase it away.
Naruto slept in late the next morning but I was there with breakfast freshly made for him set on a tray and the smell must have woken him up because no sooner had he opened his eyes his stomach was rumbling. "Gee, I'm starving ya know? This hospital food is a load of crap."
"Language!" I scolded him with a flick to his forehead where he wasn't bandaged. "Honestly Naruto, I didn't raise you to be a foul mouthed sailor, I'll rinse your mouth out with soap if I have to!"
"Ugh, but Yume you say things like that too and worse! I've heard you." I stopped, frowning slightly before grinning.
"I'm allowed to because I'm adult so there. You can't do what you like until you're eighteen years old and officially an adult too, Naruto, which means you still have five years to go." With a wink I sat down on the bed and ate my share of the tall stack of pancakes I had brought over after making them at home. Contentedly chewing away we lapsed into silence for a while until Naruto gave me a funny look.
"Hey aunty, what was your dream when you were my age?" He asked and I stopped, looking at him quickly before swallowing the syrup covered pancake.
"My dream?"
"Yeah. I don't remember ever asking you but you must have had a dream that you were working towards when you were my age, everyone does so what was it? I want to know." He waited patiently as I blinked at him before giving a small laugh of amusement. It was strange that he was bringing up something like that now, but I guess there's no harm in telling him. It was a good dream after all.
"Well, my dream Naruto, was to become the first female Hokage of Konohagakure." I informed him with a cheeky smile and a wink, making Naruto stop and stare at me before he dropped everything he was holding back onto the tray.
"What?! You seriously wanted to become Hokage too? Well why didn't they ask you?! You'd make a great Hokage! You're totally badass and you're pretty smart too, plus you're good with people and all that kind of stuff which I'm still learning. How come they asked Granny Tsunade instead?" He demanded to know so I made calming motions with his hands, not wanting him to get too excited and end up irritating his injuries any further.
"Calm down Naruto, you're too excitable. Remember you're still injured so take it easy." I warned him before leaning across the bed, resting against a hand as I thought for a few moments. "Well, the council never agreed to me becoming Hokage even though old man Sarutobi suggested it a while back. You see, they thought I was unfit for the title because I'm unstable and carrying a dangerous spirit inside me. Plus, they said I was too soft hearted and compassionate to be any use, I think they called me…useless as a leader. That's pretty much it on their part, though there was other reasons for me not going after my dream in the end." Naruto looked at me expectantly, frowning.
"What were the reasons? Why'd you give up on your dream Aunt Yume?" Turning back to face him, my face relaxed as my eyes looked directly into his.
"Because something better came along." He started, staring at me before rubbing the back of his head guiltily.
"So you gave up your dream just to take care of me? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be such a nuisance."
"I didn't mean it like that, not at all." I told him firmly, reaching out and rubbing his hair lovingly. "The day you came to me, everything changed and I had to deal with so many things all at once but I don't regret it one bit. I took one look at you, all tiny and pink with a pair of lungs that you still use to bellow as loudly as you can, and I knew that being Hokage just wasn't important to me anymore. You were. When I held you for the first time, my dream changed and focused entirely around you. I dreamed about raising you in a nice house with everything you could want, helping you to become a strong ninja that would do wonderful things for the village. Basically Naruto, you are my dream, and I couldn't be happier about it." Naruto continued to stare at me before rubbing his eyes as if some dust had stung him.
"What about Sasuke? Is he your dream too?" Deciding not to make things awkward or tense about Sasuke, I spoke as if he was still right there next to us, remaining relaxed and light hearted though it took a serious amount of self discipline and control.
"Of course, when Sasuke came into my life I started having my own dreams for him too and I still do. You're not the only one who's going to be working hard, Naruto, because although I have dreams for you, I have dreams for Sasuke too." Jerking a thumb towards me, I gave him a broad grin. "I'm going to fill Sasuke up with so much light that he'll never be burdened by darkness again, ya know? I'm going to help you save him, it'll be our joint mission that we'll work towards and nothing's going to stop us from achieving our dreams, right Naruto."
"That's right, believe it!" He agreed with me immediately, returning my grin almost like a mirror. "But what about a dream for you, Aunt Yume, surely you got one of those right?" I hummed in thought, tapping on my chin as I ate another pancake before chuckling.
"I haven't found one yet, but I promise I'll tell you when I do. You'll be the first to know." Leaning forwards I rested my forehead against his, giving him a quick smile before kissing one of his injuries. "But what I want right now is for you to get better, so I'm going to do what I do best and take good care of you until you're ready to take care of yourself again." Naruto grinned and tore into another pancake as I drew back and began to clean up a little from where he'd got crumbs and syrup everywhere.
