Part 5: Drowning in Flames

The ninja academy was consumed in flames, and the smoke was everywhere. The firefighters worked on drowning the flames, as Iruka-sensei and other attempted to evacuate the academy. A lot of people were badly hurt, and, already, five persons were reported dead. Iruka wiped the sweat from his brow just as Sasuke and Naruto arrived. The boys froze and stared at the raging flames in disbelief and horror.

"Naruto! Sasuke! Stay back!"

"What happened! It's on fire!"

"We think a bomb went off inside."

"A bomb!"
"Did you get everyone out?"
"We think so, but we can't go in there now! The whole place is about to go down."

"Iruka!"

Iruka was called over to help someone, leaving the boys staring at the fire. Naruto looked at it and remembered how much he was afraid of what he was sawing. He was so terrified he could hardly move, but then he saw Sasuke to his left, picking up a bucket of water.

"Sasuke, it's a really big fire… one little bucket isn't going to do much! Believe it…"

"Dobe."

Sasuke threw a glare in Naruto's direction that said, 'you're-so-simple-minded' and took a breath before spilling the bucket over his head.

"Huh? Sasuke? What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going in there."
"Huh! You're crazy!"

"Look around. Do you see Sakura here?"

"Uh…"

"That means…she's trapped inside! We have to go in and save her!"

This hit Naruto really hard, but as he looked up at the wildfire, he froze up, so to speak. Sasuke stared at him for a while in silence, before turning away.

"You can stay if you're afraid. I'll go and save Sakura, myself!"

That gave Naruto just enough of a push, and as Sasuke was about to leave him, Naruto grabbed his arm. Sasuke looked back. He was about to speak, until he saw the determined look on Naruto's face.

"So, you changed your mind?"
"Yeah!"

"You want to be a hero, huh? Typical."

"No, it's not that. It's just…Sakura is…"

"Huh?"

Naruto choked on his words. His face was tinged a slight color of red and his hands shook. It was time. He could lose Sakura today, and he wouldn't have even told her…

"What is it?"

"It's just that… Sakura is really important to me! I want to go!"

"…Alright, get that bucket over there."

Naruto poured the bucket of water over his head, just as Sasuke did, and he followed the other's lead into the building. Iruka turned back, looking for the boys, and just barely caught sight of Naruto's bright orange jacket before disappearing into the burning building. He tried to run in after the boys, but was held back by another adult.

"Sasuke! Naruto!"

Inside, it had been like the boys had been locked inside of an oven. The air was thick and dark, and there was very little light anywhere, despite the oddity of the bright flames around them. The boys wandered unsteadily on the creaky floors, unable to use the walls to guild them along, for they were also on fire. Naruto learned this the hard way as he set his hand on the wall to support him from falling, resulting in a badly burned hand. Then, they heard a slight tapping noise and stopped at a long hallway with several closed doors.

"Where is it coming from?"

"This room, I think!"

Naruto reached for the doorknob, but Sasuke's hand reached out to stop him.

"Don't be an idiot! How many times do you have to get burned before you use your head?"

Naruto moved back as Sasuke kicked open the door. There was nothing there but a burning room. The tapping wasn't coming from that room.

"Argh! We'll never find her in all this!"

"Snap out of it! Just pick another door, dobe!"

"They separated, so they were each at a different part of the hall and started kicking open doors down the line. Sasuke was going quickly, but Naruto was trying to use another sense to discover which room the tapping came from. He finally made a choice and kicked at the door to what used to be the music room, but it didn't budge. He hopped around on one foot as Sasuke made his way over.

"Weakling."

Sasuke kicked the door next, but it didn't budge. Sasuke got smart and covered his mouth to block the building smoke as Naruto began to cough hoarsely. Sasuke almost reached out his hand to pat his teammate on the back, but withdrew his hand, not wanting to show concern.

"Hey Sasuke, maybe she isn't even in here!"

"S-she has to be!"

"Okay, then… for this to work, we have to be a team and hit it at the same time!"

The boys backed up and counted. On three, they both rammed the door, nearly knocking it off its hinges. Naruto stumbled and nearly fell on his face, but both brightened up at hearing a kind voice call to them.

"Guys! Y-you found me!"

The boys saw Sakura on the floor in the abandoned and ruined music room, one of her favorite places to be in, as it were. A long board had landed on her leg, trapping the poor girl in that spot on the floor. Naruto moved the board and Sasuke helped Sakura up, letting the girl lean heavily on him.

"Are you okay, Sakura?"

"I am now! I'm glad you came in here for me!"

"Sakura, where did your headband go?"

"Oh-no! I think I dropped it, somewhere!"

"Forget about it! Your life is far more important right now!"

"Okay…you're right, Sasuke!"

"Naruto, lets go!"

"Yeah!"

-Flashback-

When Naruto was eating ramen with Iruka-sensei before, he had become a ninja, the boy was eyeing the man's headband in awe.

"Say, can I try on your headband? C'mon, just this once?"

"Sorry, no. Only a ninja can wear one of these. You'll get one for yourself sometime or another, Naruto!"

Then, after Naruto had saved Iruka-sensei by learning and using the shadow-clone jutsu, the man had called him over to him, and presented Naruto with an official ninja headband of his own.

-Present-

'Earning a ninja headband was one of the things I wanted more than anything, because it was my first step to becoming someone special in life… I was so happy when I got mine! And I bet… Sakura would be really sad if she had lost hers!'

Naruto was filled with an inner fire that was stronger than the wild flames around him. He looked up at his teammates…no, his friends, who ran ahead of him, but then turned right around and ran back the other way, unknown to the others. He tried to find his way back to the music room, but the smoke was far thicker in the air and the flames had moved in since he had last been there moments earlier. The fire singed the tips of his spiky blonde hair and it irritated his already, badly burned hand. But he pressed on and finally made it back to the room where Sakura had been in before. He kicked around burnt and burning debris in search of the precious headband. He froze, however, at seeing how fragile and weak the floorboards under him were. The ceiling was almost ready to go, also. He was running out of time! At this point, he was tired and drained of strength, and his vision was blurred as his lungs took in excess amounts of toxic smoke. He had to lean on one of the desks to keep from toppling over. The fire of courage in him had nearly run out as he was about to give up hope, until he saw something. It was a glint off of metal and after taking a few steps more, he could clearly see the headband near a crack in the floor. It was nearly undamaged, too!

"H-ha ha ha… I got you, you stupid, tricky thing…!"

But then, a gasp escaped his lips. The ceiling just above the target had started to collapse. He leapt across the floor towards it, racing against the clock. His fingers were nearly touching it when, through his thoughts of fear, a sense of calm filled him up. Naruto embraces the calm and uttered a name as his eyes closed, a smile plastered onto his face.

"Sakura… I love you…"