Disclaimer: I own none of the characters of Naruto who will appear in this
part of the story. Also, if you like this, go check out my other Naruto
story. More on that at the end. Now, the second chapter commences...
Kyubi Unleashed
By DigiScanner-Shonen
Chapter 2: Consultations of the Hokage
It was the next day and Team 7 was to have a rendezvous at the old bridge for new training exercises. It was early in the morning and a mist hung over Konohagakure. Sakura was the first to get there.
She still couldn't get over what happened yesterday. What she had said to Naruto. How he was an annoyance to her and how she still couldn't stand him, even after all this time.
She had gone through over and over in her mind what to say to Naruto to express her feelings of remorse. Now, she waited for the blonde genin to appear.
What would happen if he didn't except the apology? Sakura thought. Would he hold that bitterness inside him for the rest of his life? What if her saying that pushed him off the edge and drove him to...
Naruto showed up out of the mist as Sakura wondered. He took one look at her, gave a huff and turned away. He was still bitter. Couldn't he understand she felt awful about saying those things about him?
There was silence between the two for a time that seemed like eternity. Sakura continued to look at him, as he gazed down to the underneath of the bridge.
Her heart starting beating faster, her hands were shaking. She was nervous. She couldn't appear nervous to him. She had to apologise to him. She took in a deep breath and began to talk.
"So," she started, "What'd you have for breakfast?"
He kept silent.
"Think it'll be sunny today?"
The quietness continued.
"Think Master Kakashi will show up early this time?"
Still nothing. No response. This just made her more nervous and pained. This really hurt him, she thought, and it's all my fault. Time to stop the small talk.
"Naruto..." His silence was torture to her, "I acted like a real jerk yesterday. I know things have been hard for you growing up all this time and that my remarks probably made it worse, but I want you to know I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"
"Hmf," he smirked, "Forgive you for what happened? Sure," For a moment, Sakura thought everything between them would be okay again. Then he continued, "but only after you understand."
"Understand what, Naruto?"
"Do you know how I felt when you told me that?" He turned to face her, "Do you know how much it hurt when you plainly admitted to my face that you hate my guts? And why? Just to impress your 'Sasuke-kun'?"
"You don't know the pain I grew up with, Sakura. You would never know. Being all alone, all the time. Going to places and being frowned upon. Saying hi and having a back turned to you. Hating you for what they see you as for crimes you didn't commit. Only one person treated me with respect. Empathy. Even love."
"That was Master Iruka, back at the Academy. When he took me out for ramen, I felt so happy. I started to depend on him for any kinds of praise, attention, and respect. I'd do anything for him, even die," Naruto's voice was starting to crack, "When I graduated, I knew I had to start to depend on myself. But I found someone else who I thought could treat me the same way. Who'd see me for who I really am. Who I'd die fighting for."
"Who was it?" Sakura asked.
"You, Sakura," he admitted as he moved closer to Sakura, "At least, until yesterday. I was hoping you'd see me the way I do. As a person, with feelings, thoughts and a dream to have respect. I did act kind of stupid, yes I confess, but it was to get your attention. I only wanted to please you and have you care for me the way I wanted you to. But everything I did, you overlooked. You dwarfed it. Always looked past me and to him."
Sakura knew whom he meant.
"It was always about Sasuke with you. Sasuke-kun this, Sasuke-kun that, Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun. It pissed me off a lot. I never understood WHY you liked him. Maybe because he was strong. He was the strongest of all of us back then. I started to think, what if I was strong like him? Maybe then you'd start to notice me and, heck, maybe even like me."
"That's why I hated him. Because he had your attention. Something I wanted, but only if I worked hard. So when we all became Master Kakashi's students, I swore to myself that I'd surpass Sasuke and gain your respect, attention, care. So through all that's happened with us as a team, my one driving force to never give up, become better that Sasuke and receive the Hokage title, was you."
Sakura never knew how much she meant to Naruto until now. She felt low, now. Really low.
"But what you did to me yesterday was unforgivable. You said you hated my guts. That I annoyed you. That the only thing that mattered to you and that made my presence bearable to you was someone else. Tell me, Sakura," he said as he pushed his face right into hers, "how do you think I felt? HOW DO YOU THINK I FELT, DAMMIT!!"
Naruto had tears in his eyes now. He had been so badly scarred by her. Sakura felt like she was going to cry, too. What she had done to him was inexcusable. And in his eyes, unforgivable.
Naruto turned away and went back to his part of the bridge. Sakura collapsed and let tears flow. How could she have done this to him? How could she have known she meant everything to him? She was a real jerk.
Sakura cried. And cried. She continued to cry until Sasuke and Kakashi showed up to begin the exercises and she had to pull herself together.
*~*
Training was over a few hours later and Naruto felt slightly better after venting some steam to Sakura on the bridge. But it still wasn't enough to get him to take his mind off her. He deep down really did want to forgive Sakura, but part of his mind kept telling him what she had done to him was unforgivable. He continued back to his house and collapsed onto the bed.
Did I really do the right thing, just telling her plainly how much she hurt me? Naruto thought. Maybe it was a bad idea. She probably must think I'm just another infatuated idiot like that Rock Lee. Maybe I never should've disguised myself as Sasuke to get close to Sakura and none of this would have happened. But wait, I saw the look in her eyes when I told her.
She was saddened. She was apologetic. She was caring. She was trying to tell me she was sorry and she cared about me, but I threw it in her face. I made Sakura feel like a real heel, then. But that was the way she made me feel, so that's that. But can I really leave her that way, sad and sorry? What should I do? Leave her be and forget her or forgive her and try to be her friend again?
Naruto was really confused on this matter. He never really did understand girls and this just made him even more puzzled. So when in doubt, he consulted Kyubi.
"Kyubi, I need your help," Naruto said as he quieted his mind again, "You saw what Sakura did to me and what I told her. Should I forgive her or forget about her?"
He listened for the demon kitsune's answer. Being inside Naruto had made Kyubi soften a bit. It now understood the concept of many things that Naruto had experienced, but it still wouldn't refrain from its old habits like thoughts of destroying the shinobis who imprisoned him in the boy. Naruto heard Kyubi's answer in a series of growls. He translated them into an answer:
"Forgive her. Forget her. They're both good options, but only you can decide on that matter. I can't help you."
"Thank you, Kyubi," Naruto said as Kyubi turned silent. Naruto was quiet for a moment and then found his answer. But in order to know it was truly the right one, he'd need to have counselling from another girl before making the decision final. He knew just who to talk to.
Naruto bolted out the door to find who he needed to speak with.
*~*
Another quiet day, Tsunade thought as she strolled through the Village Garden, in Konohagakure. We're still carrying the scars of what happened during Orochimaru's attack, but we get by. I thank the previous Hokage for delaying Orochimaru's reign, but I wonder how long this peace will last before some other force strikes our home...
"Tsunade!"
The Hokage turned around and was met with the blonde-haired boy who vowed to become the next Hokage. He was all sweaty and his face was as red as a tomato.
"It's Hokage or ma'am now, Naruto," Tsunade told him, "You can't call me that in public."
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Naruto said to her, "but I really need to talk to you."
"What's it about?"
"Well, there's this girl..."
"Oh. Got hit by Cupid's Arrow? Come to my house, we'll talk over tea."
*~*
Tsunade's house in Konohagakure was small. Kind of like Naruto's place. There was peeling blue wallpaper lining the walls; the floor was a bit messy and uncleaned; moreover, it had a strange odour that Naruto couldn't identify entirely. The place was a bachelor pad, so everything was in one room. The couch they sat on was bumpy, the kitchen was full of uncleaned dishes, the cabinets had papers all over them and closet could use some work. She was more of an eating-out person, not a "live at home" person, she had told Naruto.
"So let me go over this one more time," Tsunade said as she sipped her tea and placed the cup on the coffee table by their feet, "You disguise yourself as another guy, who this girl really likes, to get close to her and get her opinion of you. After she badmouths you, you drop your disguise and leave her, now knowing it was you. Then, today, when she tries to apologise to you, you throw it in her face. Hmm, you're a real romantic."
"Whatever. I wrestled with myself earlier on whether to forgive her or leave her be. I tried to talk to Kyubi, but it wouldn't give a straight opinion. Left me to make up my own mind," Naruto told the Hokage, "I decided on an opinion, but needed a girl's perspective before going through with it."
"Which is...?"
"Forgiving her and apologising myself for doing what I did earlier."
"Well, of course you should go with that. Why'd you need to see me for, then?"
"Because I wasn't sure that she'd let me apologise after what we both did."
"After what you told her about her being your whole world? I think she'll let both of you forgive each other. Especially since you saw the sorrow in her eyes when you told her everything."
"All right, I'll do it. I'm going to forgive her. I hope now she understands how much it hurt to have someone you care deeply for shun you. Maybe she'll care about me more now the way I care about her! Thanks, Tsunade! Oop!" Naruto said as he got up and covered his mouth after he realised that he called the Hokage by her name.
"It's okay Naruto. I'll let it slide just this once. Go on and find that girl. Find her and forgive her. Just promise me one thing..."
"What?"
"Let me know how it went. This little situation of love brings back memories..."
"Uh, yeah...Gotta go!" Naruto said as he raced out the door in search of Sakura.
Kids these days, she thought as she sipped her tea again, never quite know how to handle love. Tsunade rose up and put the dishes away. This place needed a clean up. She was just about to start when a knock-knock came from the door.
"Yes?" She asked as she opened the door.
"Lord Hokage!" the visitors bowed. There were three of them. Why would they visit her at her own house?
"There's been some strange activity in the Land Hidden in the Clouds," one of them said.
"What kind of strange activity?"
"There have been reports of destruction of nearby villages. Men, women, children, all killed. It started just a few days ago," another stated.
"What's happening there?"
"We're not quite sure," the third answered, "But we ask permission to go and investigate. If it started there and continues, the whole world could be in peril."
"Do it. Report back to me in three days."
"Yes, Lord Hokage!" the three ninjas saluted, then disappeared.
Destruction in the Land Hidden in the Clouds? That's practically at the border, Tsunade thought, I just hope that it's something that can be averted easily before something bad happens.
Tsunade closed the door and looked around her messy house. They could have come in and saw how messy she was! If she was to be Hokage, she'd have to make not only herself, but also her home presentable. She took in a big breath and began to clean up. Two thoughts always remained on her mind. One was what the disaster is and how big it will be if it continues. The other was how Naruto was going to do with the girl he and Tsunade talked about.
TO BE CONTINUED!
I just love reviews. Lets me know that people enjoy what I'm doing. I want more. Oh! And before I forget, I created another Naruto fic, "Wind". Yes, it's a songfic with the song from the first ending of Naruto in it. It was my first Naruto story so if you like this, you'll probably like that one, as well. Please review it, as well.
Kyubi Unleashed
By DigiScanner-Shonen
Chapter 2: Consultations of the Hokage
It was the next day and Team 7 was to have a rendezvous at the old bridge for new training exercises. It was early in the morning and a mist hung over Konohagakure. Sakura was the first to get there.
She still couldn't get over what happened yesterday. What she had said to Naruto. How he was an annoyance to her and how she still couldn't stand him, even after all this time.
She had gone through over and over in her mind what to say to Naruto to express her feelings of remorse. Now, she waited for the blonde genin to appear.
What would happen if he didn't except the apology? Sakura thought. Would he hold that bitterness inside him for the rest of his life? What if her saying that pushed him off the edge and drove him to...
Naruto showed up out of the mist as Sakura wondered. He took one look at her, gave a huff and turned away. He was still bitter. Couldn't he understand she felt awful about saying those things about him?
There was silence between the two for a time that seemed like eternity. Sakura continued to look at him, as he gazed down to the underneath of the bridge.
Her heart starting beating faster, her hands were shaking. She was nervous. She couldn't appear nervous to him. She had to apologise to him. She took in a deep breath and began to talk.
"So," she started, "What'd you have for breakfast?"
He kept silent.
"Think it'll be sunny today?"
The quietness continued.
"Think Master Kakashi will show up early this time?"
Still nothing. No response. This just made her more nervous and pained. This really hurt him, she thought, and it's all my fault. Time to stop the small talk.
"Naruto..." His silence was torture to her, "I acted like a real jerk yesterday. I know things have been hard for you growing up all this time and that my remarks probably made it worse, but I want you to know I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"
"Hmf," he smirked, "Forgive you for what happened? Sure," For a moment, Sakura thought everything between them would be okay again. Then he continued, "but only after you understand."
"Understand what, Naruto?"
"Do you know how I felt when you told me that?" He turned to face her, "Do you know how much it hurt when you plainly admitted to my face that you hate my guts? And why? Just to impress your 'Sasuke-kun'?"
"You don't know the pain I grew up with, Sakura. You would never know. Being all alone, all the time. Going to places and being frowned upon. Saying hi and having a back turned to you. Hating you for what they see you as for crimes you didn't commit. Only one person treated me with respect. Empathy. Even love."
"That was Master Iruka, back at the Academy. When he took me out for ramen, I felt so happy. I started to depend on him for any kinds of praise, attention, and respect. I'd do anything for him, even die," Naruto's voice was starting to crack, "When I graduated, I knew I had to start to depend on myself. But I found someone else who I thought could treat me the same way. Who'd see me for who I really am. Who I'd die fighting for."
"Who was it?" Sakura asked.
"You, Sakura," he admitted as he moved closer to Sakura, "At least, until yesterday. I was hoping you'd see me the way I do. As a person, with feelings, thoughts and a dream to have respect. I did act kind of stupid, yes I confess, but it was to get your attention. I only wanted to please you and have you care for me the way I wanted you to. But everything I did, you overlooked. You dwarfed it. Always looked past me and to him."
Sakura knew whom he meant.
"It was always about Sasuke with you. Sasuke-kun this, Sasuke-kun that, Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun. It pissed me off a lot. I never understood WHY you liked him. Maybe because he was strong. He was the strongest of all of us back then. I started to think, what if I was strong like him? Maybe then you'd start to notice me and, heck, maybe even like me."
"That's why I hated him. Because he had your attention. Something I wanted, but only if I worked hard. So when we all became Master Kakashi's students, I swore to myself that I'd surpass Sasuke and gain your respect, attention, care. So through all that's happened with us as a team, my one driving force to never give up, become better that Sasuke and receive the Hokage title, was you."
Sakura never knew how much she meant to Naruto until now. She felt low, now. Really low.
"But what you did to me yesterday was unforgivable. You said you hated my guts. That I annoyed you. That the only thing that mattered to you and that made my presence bearable to you was someone else. Tell me, Sakura," he said as he pushed his face right into hers, "how do you think I felt? HOW DO YOU THINK I FELT, DAMMIT!!"
Naruto had tears in his eyes now. He had been so badly scarred by her. Sakura felt like she was going to cry, too. What she had done to him was inexcusable. And in his eyes, unforgivable.
Naruto turned away and went back to his part of the bridge. Sakura collapsed and let tears flow. How could she have done this to him? How could she have known she meant everything to him? She was a real jerk.
Sakura cried. And cried. She continued to cry until Sasuke and Kakashi showed up to begin the exercises and she had to pull herself together.
*~*
Training was over a few hours later and Naruto felt slightly better after venting some steam to Sakura on the bridge. But it still wasn't enough to get him to take his mind off her. He deep down really did want to forgive Sakura, but part of his mind kept telling him what she had done to him was unforgivable. He continued back to his house and collapsed onto the bed.
Did I really do the right thing, just telling her plainly how much she hurt me? Naruto thought. Maybe it was a bad idea. She probably must think I'm just another infatuated idiot like that Rock Lee. Maybe I never should've disguised myself as Sasuke to get close to Sakura and none of this would have happened. But wait, I saw the look in her eyes when I told her.
She was saddened. She was apologetic. She was caring. She was trying to tell me she was sorry and she cared about me, but I threw it in her face. I made Sakura feel like a real heel, then. But that was the way she made me feel, so that's that. But can I really leave her that way, sad and sorry? What should I do? Leave her be and forget her or forgive her and try to be her friend again?
Naruto was really confused on this matter. He never really did understand girls and this just made him even more puzzled. So when in doubt, he consulted Kyubi.
"Kyubi, I need your help," Naruto said as he quieted his mind again, "You saw what Sakura did to me and what I told her. Should I forgive her or forget about her?"
He listened for the demon kitsune's answer. Being inside Naruto had made Kyubi soften a bit. It now understood the concept of many things that Naruto had experienced, but it still wouldn't refrain from its old habits like thoughts of destroying the shinobis who imprisoned him in the boy. Naruto heard Kyubi's answer in a series of growls. He translated them into an answer:
"Forgive her. Forget her. They're both good options, but only you can decide on that matter. I can't help you."
"Thank you, Kyubi," Naruto said as Kyubi turned silent. Naruto was quiet for a moment and then found his answer. But in order to know it was truly the right one, he'd need to have counselling from another girl before making the decision final. He knew just who to talk to.
Naruto bolted out the door to find who he needed to speak with.
*~*
Another quiet day, Tsunade thought as she strolled through the Village Garden, in Konohagakure. We're still carrying the scars of what happened during Orochimaru's attack, but we get by. I thank the previous Hokage for delaying Orochimaru's reign, but I wonder how long this peace will last before some other force strikes our home...
"Tsunade!"
The Hokage turned around and was met with the blonde-haired boy who vowed to become the next Hokage. He was all sweaty and his face was as red as a tomato.
"It's Hokage or ma'am now, Naruto," Tsunade told him, "You can't call me that in public."
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Naruto said to her, "but I really need to talk to you."
"What's it about?"
"Well, there's this girl..."
"Oh. Got hit by Cupid's Arrow? Come to my house, we'll talk over tea."
*~*
Tsunade's house in Konohagakure was small. Kind of like Naruto's place. There was peeling blue wallpaper lining the walls; the floor was a bit messy and uncleaned; moreover, it had a strange odour that Naruto couldn't identify entirely. The place was a bachelor pad, so everything was in one room. The couch they sat on was bumpy, the kitchen was full of uncleaned dishes, the cabinets had papers all over them and closet could use some work. She was more of an eating-out person, not a "live at home" person, she had told Naruto.
"So let me go over this one more time," Tsunade said as she sipped her tea and placed the cup on the coffee table by their feet, "You disguise yourself as another guy, who this girl really likes, to get close to her and get her opinion of you. After she badmouths you, you drop your disguise and leave her, now knowing it was you. Then, today, when she tries to apologise to you, you throw it in her face. Hmm, you're a real romantic."
"Whatever. I wrestled with myself earlier on whether to forgive her or leave her be. I tried to talk to Kyubi, but it wouldn't give a straight opinion. Left me to make up my own mind," Naruto told the Hokage, "I decided on an opinion, but needed a girl's perspective before going through with it."
"Which is...?"
"Forgiving her and apologising myself for doing what I did earlier."
"Well, of course you should go with that. Why'd you need to see me for, then?"
"Because I wasn't sure that she'd let me apologise after what we both did."
"After what you told her about her being your whole world? I think she'll let both of you forgive each other. Especially since you saw the sorrow in her eyes when you told her everything."
"All right, I'll do it. I'm going to forgive her. I hope now she understands how much it hurt to have someone you care deeply for shun you. Maybe she'll care about me more now the way I care about her! Thanks, Tsunade! Oop!" Naruto said as he got up and covered his mouth after he realised that he called the Hokage by her name.
"It's okay Naruto. I'll let it slide just this once. Go on and find that girl. Find her and forgive her. Just promise me one thing..."
"What?"
"Let me know how it went. This little situation of love brings back memories..."
"Uh, yeah...Gotta go!" Naruto said as he raced out the door in search of Sakura.
Kids these days, she thought as she sipped her tea again, never quite know how to handle love. Tsunade rose up and put the dishes away. This place needed a clean up. She was just about to start when a knock-knock came from the door.
"Yes?" She asked as she opened the door.
"Lord Hokage!" the visitors bowed. There were three of them. Why would they visit her at her own house?
"There's been some strange activity in the Land Hidden in the Clouds," one of them said.
"What kind of strange activity?"
"There have been reports of destruction of nearby villages. Men, women, children, all killed. It started just a few days ago," another stated.
"What's happening there?"
"We're not quite sure," the third answered, "But we ask permission to go and investigate. If it started there and continues, the whole world could be in peril."
"Do it. Report back to me in three days."
"Yes, Lord Hokage!" the three ninjas saluted, then disappeared.
Destruction in the Land Hidden in the Clouds? That's practically at the border, Tsunade thought, I just hope that it's something that can be averted easily before something bad happens.
Tsunade closed the door and looked around her messy house. They could have come in and saw how messy she was! If she was to be Hokage, she'd have to make not only herself, but also her home presentable. She took in a big breath and began to clean up. Two thoughts always remained on her mind. One was what the disaster is and how big it will be if it continues. The other was how Naruto was going to do with the girl he and Tsunade talked about.
TO BE CONTINUED!
I just love reviews. Lets me know that people enjoy what I'm doing. I want more. Oh! And before I forget, I created another Naruto fic, "Wind". Yes, it's a songfic with the song from the first ending of Naruto in it. It was my first Naruto story so if you like this, you'll probably like that one, as well. Please review it, as well.