Ch. 6

The young captain continued his patrol alone. He tried to push all of Neji's words out of his mind. He had to focus on the task at hand. His newly formed team had been doing these kinds of missions often. They would be sent to an area with high levels of enemy traffic and they would gather information. The tensions in the ninja world had risen lately. Talks of a great war surfaced here and there, talks of well-known Shinobi being on the move. The Hokage wasn't telling him everything, she was keeping him shielded, and all he had to go on were the same rumors everybody else heard.

Naruto soon finished his patrol, there were no threats in the surrounding area. But Neji's outburst was bugging him. The stoic Hyuuga never spoke in such a manner. Maybe he was right though, he was an ANBU Captain, responsible for the safety of Konoha and the Hokage. His feelings toward Sakura were not important while on missions. He was relieved that Sakura wore a mask because her face still made him weak in the knees. As he walked back into camp he decided that duty came first. Kiba was fingering the edges of the photo the Nin had on him but quickly hid it when he saw Naruto.

"What's the good word?" Kiba asked.

"No threats nearby, though I did leave clones in a perimeter just in case." Naruto then slid his mask up and looked Kiba in the eyes. "You shouldn't dwell on that picture much, his family knew the risks his job held."

"I know, but it just gets to me sometimes. I can't turn the emotions off as well as the rest of you."

"You never could." said Shino.

"Now I'm getting it from you too, Shino?" Kiba asked defensively.

"I have trouble with it too Kiba, but I have a duty to the village and the Hokage first." Naruto said, getting Kiba's attention. Then he looked at Neji. "So I try to keep them in check, for the team." Neji nodded, understanding the last comment was meant more for him.

"So what's the agenda for tomorrow?" Shino asked.

"We return to Konoha, The Hokage will want to see this dispatch, and there is no more activity in this area that we can disrupt." Naruto explained.

"When are we leaving?" Kiba asked, knowing he would not like the answer.

"An hour before sunrise." Naruto stated, Kiba rolled his eyes. "Get over it Kiba, you're getting as lazy as Shikamaru." Neji and Shino smirked at Naruto's comment.

"That's low Blondie." Kiba said as he sulked against Akamaru.

"Food is ready!" Came Sakura's call and the four young men suddenly had nothing to talk about, food came first.

After the meal, the team readied themselves for sleep and Naruto took the first watch. The young captain could feel the presence of his clones, nothing out of the ordinary happening with them. He let his attention and eyes linger to the pink haired beauty sleeping a few feet away. The sight of her made his heart catch in his throat, even after all these years. After all they had done to one another. He suddenly found himself next to her, and he was about to reach out and brush her hair back so he could better look at her face. But he recoiled, he shouldn't be doing this, she was… What was she to him?

Was she still the girl he loved? What was her life like now? Who were her friends? Was Ino still her best friend? She was a completely different person than the young girl and then teenager that he fell for. Was she also a completely different person than the young woman that betrayed him? She seemed so remorseful. But for some reason, he just couldn't let it go. Her choice had hurt him so much more than he ever thought he could be hurt. He wondered why her betrayal was so painful. Even when Sasuke had betrayed them, he never hurt as much as he did now. He decided he better not think about it too much. They were still on an important mission after all.

He turned his attention to the sealed scroll found on the nin Kiba had killed. The dispatch between the Sound and the Rain had been a simple set of orders and supplies needed to be delivered here and troops moved there. Why the Sound had chosen the Rain as an ally was beyond him. In the years since Pain's death and the war, the Rain had limped along, barely surviving. They had no stable leadership, but Naruto knew better than most that hate could fuel a dying animal into taking its enemy down with it.

Naruto wondered if the sealed scroll had some new information. The scroll looked innocent enough at a glance but when Naruto saw the severity of the seal he knew something was up with it.

Training with the best had taught him much. The seal was hard, but not impossible, to remove. It took him a little under an hour to dispatch the seal. He slowly unfurled the scroll. And he saw a name he had not spoken or heard for years. A name that lingered in the shadows of his mind. It appeared on the scroll, the words around it melted away. Sasuke…

Naruto instantly woke his team and told them to get ready to move. He was barking orders in an almost frantic manner. The highly trained ANBU were quick in packing and soon were heading double time back to Konoha.

As they ran, Kiba decided to finally ask the question on everyone's mind."What's wrong Naruto?!" Naruto glanced at Sakura then back to Kiba.

"New information I found in the sealed scroll."

"What was it?" questioned Neji.

"Something I need to discuss with The Hokage." Naruto then lowered his head and ran even faster. His team knew he would say no more and quickened their pace to keep up.

Sasuke found himself remembering the landmarks around him. He entered a clearing, a large meadow in the middle of the great forest. He was leisurely strolling down a familiar path and getting close to Konoha. He would need a way into the city, but that would be easy enough. He then would have to make his way to the Hokage tower. He needed to know why his name was coming up in a Ninja war. Then he saw a blur coming from the trees about a mile away. Sasuke smirked, he recognized those chakras.

Naruto had stopped dead in his tracks, Sakura and the others skidded to a halt behind him. What was he doing? All of this commotion and the hard running, and now he was suddenly stopping only a few miles from Konoha.

"Naruto, what is it?" Sakura asked but he was looking in the distance. At first she though he was just ignoring her like usual but then she saw what he was looking at. A lone figure walking towards them.

"Everyone, take cover in the trees." He ordered. But Sakura's feet would not budge, her eyes fixated on the man coming nearer. "Sakura!" She was brought out of her haze by Naruto shouting and shaking her arm. She looked at him his mask was up, his eyes focused on her. "Run."

Sasuke walked up to the lone man in the clearing. The others scrambled into the trees. He noted that Naruto had grown. He was taller and his hair was a little longer, matted down by the mask resting on top of his head. ANBU was not what he expected. Sasuke always thought that he would make a great sensei for a young Gennin team. As he came closer he noticed something else, a Captains insignia on his uniform. His old friend had come a long way. Sasuke now stood a few feet from the blonde, he smirked at the serious look the other man was giving him. Seriousness never looked right on that whiskered face.

"Hello, Naruto."

Author's Note

PLEASE feel free to leave reviews on this story. I do enjoy reading reviews and if I see good ideas as to where the story can go, I do listen to them. Reviews are not only very encouraging but they also help me get better. Be sure to drop a follow and a favorite if you enjoy my work!