Do You Hate Me?
Title subject to change, rating PG13 to be on the safe side.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I do own the plot of this story (for as far as there is one) and the extra characters I may or may not add.
Please read the AN's, they have important notes in them.
Chapter 2 – Aftermath and Feelings: (Revised)
Naruto was awake, though barely. Well you couldn't really say he was awake since Naruto was still in that fuzzy and extremely comfortable period between actual sleep and being awake. His wounds and sore muscles were all taken care of thanks to Kyuubi and the healing powers he gave Naruto. In Naruto's mind everything that was wrong with him could be cured with a simple good night's sleep. He was half right, just about everything physical was cured. Then the full lead weight of yesterday's events hit him and it more than ruined his mood.
He would have stayed in bed all day if it wasn't for someone banging on his front door and muffled shouts someone sent through it. Bolting upright in a sitting position he tried to jump up from his bed but got tangled in his bed sheets and fell, quite unceremoniously, face first on the floor... Right with his nose on a sweat sock he didn't bother to put in the laundry basket. "Aargh, what a way to start the morning." He groaned and scraping as much dignity together as he had left he proceeded towards the front door, occasionally cursing as he stumbled over the many items strewn across his cluttered bedroom.
He jerked open the door only to get rapped hard on the head by what his visitor assumed was still the door. "Ouch! Watch what you're doing!" Naruto yelled rubbing the forming lump on his spiky head. "Oh hey Kiba, what's up?"
For his part Kiba looked a bit ashamed of having hit Naruto but quickly recovered with his brash and obnoxiously loud demeanor. "Good morning you sleepyhead, you're ordered to go to the Hokage's office right awa-"
"What does the old hag want with me?" Naruto cut across Kiba.
"She wants to know what really happened yesterday with Sasuke you dumbass! What else?!" He shouted, not believing the sheer stupidity of the blonde before him. Akamaru barked in support for his master.
"Alright, alright I'll go." Naruto muttered and slammed the door in Kiba's face.
Kiba stood outside, quite perplexed. "That's it? No more complaining? Something is seriously wrong with him Akamaru." Akamaru just softly whined. "Well come on boy let's continue our walk!" That said the boy ran off towards the forest with his dog following right on his heels and shouted: "Dynamic air marking Akamaru!"(1) Producing several shouts of disgust of passersby.
Naruto on the other hand wasn't as energetic as he usually was. After slamming the door in Kiba's face he slumped down on the floor and leant against the door with his back. He really didn't want to relive the events of the day before he would be content enough with crawling into a small dark space and never deal with Konoha ever again. Naruto sighed and got up anyway. 'The old hag will probably beat me up if I don't go to see her.' Naruto thought and started finding his clothes in the mess that he called home.
The fifth Hokage for her part didn't think anything at all, which was of course hard to do when you were snoozing on important documents that needed to be signed. Her whole office was cluttered with heaps and piles of paper all waiting for the Hokage to read or sign them. Tsunade was a woman of action and clearly not cut out for a desk job which was precisely the reason why she kept on putting it all off. But she would undoubtedly be woken up again by one of her assistants and he would berate her on sleeping on the job. Of course today was just like any other day and the Hokage was startled awake by one of her exasperated assistants.
"Hokage-sama were you sleeping again?"
"Huh?" Was the sleepy reply of the Hokage as she shot up, a document still clinging on her right cheek and a small line of drool dribbling down her chin. She peeled off the document revealing a few lines of ink on her cheek. Finally awake she vigorously rubbed off the ink and drool. "Of course not Koteshi!"
Koteshi nearly face vaulted but decided not to say anything further on the matter knowing it would be quite futile if he did. "Hokage-sama you have a visitor."
"Ah, Naruto. Send him in." Tsunade said.
"Right away Hokage-sama." Koteshi said and hurried out of the office.
Tsunade got up from her chair and walked towards one of the windows in her office and gazed out over Konoha, the village she now would give her life to protect. Her pale blond hair which had two plaits down the back of her head and the bangs that framed her porcelain face swayed forth and fro as a gentle breeze swept through the sky.
Hearing someone opening the door and step inside, Tsunade didn't even bother to look back. "Good morning Naruto-kun." She said and proceeded towards her chair and sat down expecting to face a bubbling ball of hyperactivity. She frowned as she looked at Naruto, whose clothes were even messier than normal and had a look of dejection on his normally grinning face. Deciding that she'd ask what was wrong with him later after she'd heard his side of the events that took place yesterday, she stayed quiet and waited for the boy's reply.
Naruto who had been staring at the floor finally looked at the well endowed woman who didn't bother to hide her very respectable cleavage. "Good morning Oh-ba-chan."
Now Tsunade definitely knew something was wrong. He didn't even call her an old hag! And chan? Since when did he add chan? "So you probably know why you're here?" She started and the blond boy nodded dumbly. "Well please tell me what happened when you finally caught up with Uchiha Sasuke."
Naruto then told her what happened. Everything from chasing the four sound- nins to every time one of them stayed behind to face one of the sound-nins. He also told her about facing Kimimaro and Lee showing up so he could give chase to Sasuke. Finally he started on how he had fought Sasuke and having to end it with his Rasengan. Tsunade's eyes widened slightly at that 'I should have known. It took me ages to heal all those broken bones and torn ligaments.'
"Well then we came back but you know all about that of course." Naruto finished and once again resumed staring at the floor.
Tsunade's brow furrowed for a moment. "Well you'll be pleased to know no- one died of their wounds. Lee and Kiba suffered some minor injuries, Chouji is just exhausted, he burnt off all his fat and will remain asleep for at least a couple more days. Neji, aside from Sasuke suffered the most grievous wounds which I was just barely able to heal in time. Sasuke had broken his arms, legs, collarbones, cracked a few ribs and suffered some other injuries. Not really hard to heal but he'll be bedridden for at least a month. Not that we'll let him go anywhere for the time being anyway. As for Temari, Kankuro and Gaara..." Naruto's ears perked up at that "...they were uninjured." Tsunade stopped there, expecting a question about the three siblings. When there didn't seem to come one from Naruto she continued. "I bet you were all surprised about those three showing up? Well as you know the Sand made a peace treaty with the Leaf and sent a few groups of Shinobi's to help with the defense of our village. Gaara immediately wanted to come and I expect he's quite eager to talk to you later." Once again she waited for a response from Naruto.
"Okay." Naruto muttered.
Tsunade sighed and picked up a pen and a scrap of paper. "I gave them temporary housing on the east side of the village," She said as she started scribbling down an address. She handed it to Naruto who took it silently and stuffed it in his pocket. "Now, I want you to tell me what's wrong." She said and stared intently in Naruto's blue eyes.
Naruto didn't really know what to say, his feelings brewing inside him like a violent thunderstorm. Could he really trust this old lady with his feelings? Inwardly he shrugged, 'I might as well' and opened his mouth to speak. "Oh-ba-chan... Do... Do you h-hate me?" He stuttered.
Tsunade was stunned; of all responses she didn't expect this. "What do you mean Naruto-kun?"
Naruto's shoulders which were already slumped seemed to drop even further. "Yesterday Sakura-chan wouldn't even look at me and even though I returned Sasuke, no-one even complimented me. When I walked home all I got were insults and cold glares... As always... Am I... Am I really a demon? I mean I know I'm not really, I got this stupid fox inside me and the stupid fur ball gives me power occasionally. But am I a bad person like him?" Naruto sniffed once and his eyes glistened with unshed tears. "I'm just tired... Tired of being lonely..." After that statement he looked at the floor again, refusing to let his tears fall.
Tsunade cried on the inside for this boy. This lonely, lonely boy. "Naruto- kun" she half whispered. "Naruto-kun look at me."
Naruto sniffed again and looked into Tsunade's eyes, nothing short than two brown pools of warmth. Tsunade's heart was nearly wrenched in two as she saw the sheer agony in Naruto's sky blue eyes. Taking a deep breath she got up and knelt beside him putting one hand on his shoulder and one hand on top of his own hands. "You have a crush on that Haruno girl, Sakura don't you?" She was surprised to see Naruto shake his head.
"N-not anymore, she likes Sasuke..."
Lifting her hand from his shoulder she patted his head lightly. "Well that's quite alright Naruto. You're very brave, not many people would willingly give up their crush even though the person they like liked someone else."
Naruto shook his head again and averted his eyes to start looking down again when Tsunade firmly put a finger under his chin, lifting it, forcibly making him look at her. "Now you listen to me young man. You are brave. Don't deny it. Everyday you show your courage by simply getting up and going through the day. I know how hard it is to go on without someone precious to you." She said as she remembered losing her boyfriend Dan and her little brother Nawaki. "But now we both have precious persons. For me it's you and all the people of the Leaf, even that pervert Jiraiya! You still have Iruka and what about Kakashi and Sakura. Even Sasuke when we beat some sense into that thick skull of his. I know that you're upset about Sakura but don't be. A person like you will find another girl soon enough. Anyone not willing to like you or be with you is just stupid and should be ignored, they're not worthy to be noticed."
No-one ever said anything like this to him, not even Iruka-sensei. And Naruto wasn't quite sure what to think now. Finally he said the only thing that seemed to pop up inside his head. "Y-you're one of my precious persons too Oh-ba-chan." Naruto said and a tear finally escaped and rolled down his cheek.
Tsunade felt her heart swell and beamed at him. "Thank you Naruto-kun..." She softly whispered. No words were necessary anymore as Tsunade grabbed the blonde boy and put his head just above her breasts. Placing her chin on top of his head, she held him tight and let him cry, muttering sweet encouragements and rubbed his back until he finished.
As he stood outside Naruto knew he did the right thing in entrusting someone with his feelings. He felt as though the large weight that had been dragging his heart down into a pool of misery was lifted. He had even been hugged; no-one ever hugged him like that before. Grabbing the note with the address out of his pocket he studied it and wondered why Gaara would ever want to help the Leaf.
As he walked towards the siblings' house he came to a sudden realization. 'He's got a demon inside him like I do, he understands...' A small smile curving his lips, Naruto ran almost happily towards the house of the three Sand siblings. Today he'd find out what going on with Gaara and maybe... Maybe make a new friend.
(1): Douteki Saitentei (Dynamic Air Marking) is basically jumping forward and spinning like a top spraying urine all over the place. As seen in manga chapter: 172, Volume 20.
A/N: Pfff, another semi-revised chapter. I added a few words here and there and fixed some stuff. Maybe I constantly stare myself blind on my chapters but just now I found out that I had typed Lead instead of Leaf? I mean, dude? Aaargh. Anyway here it is. Hopefully it's a bit better then before.