Title: El Bimbo

Author: sky75rk

To my reviewers who inspired me through the lastfour chapters of this story...

Scorpz, Princess Kitana, tins, angel of darkness, catc10, xXfissshBonesssXx, quaebah24, sansty-san, Puriin, Ly Mizukage, Momochi Zabuza, chocoglico, Silent Victory, Jena, Uzamaki Liliana, Kaiyo no Hime, Strawberries and Napkins, bhodi li, Magikchaos, redfox9t, Msdbzmedabots, kokoro86, dreamcst, SchwarzViolet, sizzle, bloodofakiller, mkh2, Jewelclaw lady of wind, Kisu, pervertedgoofness, dreamcaster, Tsugath, ArrowHeart... You guys totally rock!

Standard disclaimers apply.

Thirteenth Channel: Better Days

"This is the Hokage Mountain where the faces of each Hokage were sculptured to their resemblance," Iruka told the children that was sitting in front of him and gestured to the mountain behind him. "It is how we remember them and the great things they have done for our country,"

"Someday my face will be carved there and I'll be the greatest Hokage ever!" a child with sparkly bluish-grey eyes and light brown hair shouted and everybody looked at him.

"As if! You'll never become Hokage if you stay that weak," another commented with a smirk.

"Children," Iruka started but the attention still remained on the two boys that were starting to have a verbal argument over the matter. Iruka sighed and called them again. This time, they focused their attention on him. "Being the Hokage doesn't only mean being the most respected and strongest person in the country. It means having many responsibilities and giving up sacrifices to ensure the safety of every people,"

Those bluish-grey eyes did not falter. "I don't care. I'm going to become Hokage!"

Iruka sighed again. "How can you become Hokage when you can't even do a single bunshin?"

The class laughed merrily.

Everything was just like these five years ago.

A boy with blue eyes that sparkled with untamed mirth looked at him with determination that one cannot undermine even beneath the cynical stares of his co-students. I don't care. I'll become a Hokage and I'll surpass every Hokage that came before me. I'll be the greatest Hokage ever! It was the same. Not only did the words match but those eyes with undying fortitude and passion did as well. Before Iruka's eyes, the students and the environment melted away as the sound did and he was transported back to his classroom on that auspicious day where those blue eyes spoke volumes like his mouth did. But only he was the witness to the event.

All dissolves and pictures were rushing by him as he saw those blue eyes put into action the words he let out in the past. I won't back down on my word! That's my nindo! Iruka chuckled at the favorite phrase the owner of those vivid blue eyes said. Brown eyes watched as his former student worked hard, improved and exceeded everyone's expectations. He was proud of him.

"Iruka-sensei?"

Brown eyes once again re-focused on reality and saw the students staring at him with confused looks on their faces. He smiled. "Do you want to know what makes the Hokage strong?" he asked them and the children bobbed their heads in unbridled enthusiasm. He turned 180 degrees and stared at the mountain thoughtfully. "They're are strong because they have someone that is important to them and therefore, they strive to be the strongest to be able to protect the people that are most important to them,"

"Who are those people, sensei?"

Iruka returned his gaze on his students and smiled. "The people of Konoha," he said. "It is you, your families and friends. All of us,"

The children were struck with awe and understanding, their eyes holding high respect for the Hokages that lived before them and the current Hokage that was running their country at the moment.

"I have someone important to me too sensei! And I will become strong so I could protect them!"

"Yeah!"

"Me too!"

Iruka clapped his hands and gained the attention of his students who were now talking amongst themselves. "That's good. Now I see that Konoha will have a great future ahead of us,"

His class went out for a good 45 minutes more before he dismissed his students. Today has been a good day. His students listened to him, kept quiet and did not disobey him. And in return for their good behavior, he let them out ten minutes early.

He lay back on his seat and held up the seatwork his students had passed on the way out. That day, he told them that he wanted them to write about their dreams and goals in life. He scanned each page with a smile. Every student wrote a whole page essay, paragraph after paragraph. He stopped short when he saw one paper with only one sentence and the whole page was clean afterwards.

I'll become the greatest Hokage Konoha ever had!

Iruka put the paper down on his desk and pulled out a red pen. Carefully, poised the pen on the paper and wrote a grade of '100' on it.

"Ara, that's unfair sensei. When I wrote the exact same thing, you gave me a failing grade," a smooth, playful tone said. The academy teacher tensed slightly as he felt the presence that he was so familiar with beside him. Little by little, his eyes traveled upwards and he rested on the visitor's face. Blonde hair, blue eyes, those whiskered cheeks… and… that same warm smile. Iruka's eyes softened immensely.

"Tadaima," said the guest again. But no… he was not only a guest. He was family.

The Chuunin stood up and hugged the owner of those features whom he greatly missed. "Okaeri,"

Tsunade was so well engrossed at her work that the papers were piling up so fast and you could almost not see her head, which was comfortably leaning on the table—sleeping. Her blonde hair was cascading over her face and half of it was covered. From behind her, the window was left opened, something that she was now accustomed to doing since the start of the summer. A light wind floated through the room and it caressed the Hokage's sleeping face ever so gently.

It was a calm summer afternoon, peaceful, quiet and not to mention, very tiring. With the absence of war from the country, she thought that somehow, her work would lighten and she would find free time to relax and maybe gamble through the night—not that Shizune could ever disagree or Jiraiya for that matter. That toad hermit would let you go only if you never fail to mention to help him with his 'data collecting'. Not that she would anyway.

The place was becoming more and more boring that soon her eyes gave up and with a defeated sigh she casually leaned onto the table and slept. Birds chirped, leaves rustled and soon the sounds around her melted away and all she could hear was nothing.

She had that kind of peace—one wherein she was entirely sure that no one would bother or even dares to wake her up. Had she been enlightened and happy to receive that fact? She was never sure of it, but constantly, she can hear the nagging in her mind telling her to wake up. And she always did.

A light snore escaped from her lips and her ears were devoid of any hearing that it did not register into her that the door to her room was opened. She did not hear the soft tapping of something which was unmistakably made by wood and the sound of two pairs of footsteps that followed afterwards. She did not hear anything when the papers that piled up her desk were unceremoniously placed to the floor with a gentle thud.

But she did feel when a hand lightly touched her face and proceeded to tug her loose hair behind her ear.

Something in her suddenly stirred and she made no movement nor changed the pace of her breathing. Her mind awakened and she could remember the last time someone had been so familiar with her and her with that someone. The hand pulled back and chortled lowly. "Some things never change, do they, Tsunade-baachan?" And at that moment of silent reckoning, she decided that it was time.

It was time.

She still made no movement, trying to find out whether the visitor would say a few words still. That child was always so ignorant. Many years of being a ninja and still cannot recognize whether someone was sleeping or not. It was not like she chastised him for being that way. She did teach her body not to change even a breath's pace when she awakened with someone she did not know so near. Yet, it also wasn't like she didn't know him.

"She's awake," another voice said, and from the volume of it, she could determine that the person who owned that voice was a few feet away from her table.

This time, she heard the soft tapping of a wooden object and the footsteps that accompanied it afterwards. Slowly, she sat up and straightened herself in the most dignified manner she could manage, not looking at her visitors. She was excited and at the same time, afraid. What if she was only dreaming it?

"Tsunade-baachan?"

That voice again, the once melodramatic, whining voice she could still recall from the past years and now was developed into a tone more insinuating yet at the same time reeked the air of innocence that she was glad he did not lose over the war.

She opened her eyes and before her materialized a scene she dreamt of months before, a homecoming she had prepared herself to do.

She gave the blonde boy in front of her a once over, standing up simultaneously. Her eyes running through his obviously recuperating form. It came to her mind at first that it was way too early to see him now, knowing that it would take years before he could get up and go—but this was Naruto she was thinking and she always was shocked to see the boy healing faster than most people.

Naruto was now standing with the help of two crutches on both sides of his arms. But he was standing. Barely, but still standing.

With two quick, long strides, she was mere inches away from Naruto, she stared into his clear, blue eyes for what seemed like forever and drew him into a long, comfortable hug.

He was home, at last.

"Tsunade-baachan, I swear, if you don't let me go right now I'm gonna die of lack of oxygen," said the young man, laughing with his sense of humor. Tsunade drew back instantly, giving Naruto a smirk before replying.

"I know that you could barely stand and you look like someone really older than me brat, but I didn't realize that your body became one as well,"

Naruto glared at her. She missed that. "It did not!" he retorted whole heartedly.

She smirked at him and turned his attention to the one responsible for bringing her beloved brat so soon. And in very good condition. "You did a great job, Neji," she praised.

"I'm glad that you think so, Hokage-sama," the Hyuuga replied, giving her a smile, showing her that he was also proud of what he had accomplished. Well, he looked like he really changed, she thought to herself and the next moment she turned, she was being dragged back behind her desk and seated down by a struggling blonde.

"You should finish your work, you lazy hag," came a direct command from the boy who was accountable into putting her in the position. Tsunade glared at him and muttered, 'let's see if you enjoy doing this when you become Hokage'. Naruto failed to hear her though, for when she muttered those words, they were already halfway through the door and leaving, waving a good-bye and shouting 'I'll see you soon' to her.

Again, she smiled, in her heart she knew that Naruto would love being Hokage even with all this paper work.

This was certainly one of the better days.

"I can't believe that we both moved on with our obsession with Sasuke, forehead girl,"

"I know, Ino-pig. But I still can't believe that you are going out with Shikamaru,"

"Neither did I see you eventually holding hands with Lee,"

"Really? Well, me either, but after all he did for me; I can't very well ignore him can I? It's not like I made the first move or anything," Sakura gave Ino a knowing look.

Ino huffed. "As if you'd see that lazy boy moving a muscle towards the romance department,"

Sakura laughed, her hands loosening their hold on the bags of fruits and other groceries as she did. "At first you really looked like you popped a vein or something when he was, how do you put that? 'Either ignoring my advances or simply blind'. It was funny,"

Ino glared at her, and then smirked. "What's funny is how you're face looked when you first saw those thick eyebrows and those words about youth! Not to mention when he blew those kisses at you with flying hearts which you desperately dodged! Ha! Nothing would ever compare to that,"

"That's foul play Ino! Just because he has thick brows and does weird things don't mean he's not a good guy," Sakura retorted, immediately turning on Lee's defense. "Lee is a nice guy, incredibly naïve and somehow childish, but that just adds to his appeal. Not like Shikamaru. Always wanting to sleep, lazing the day off when he could be doing things more productive,"

Ino stared at her response. "Now that's foul play, forehead girl. You and I both know that he is a genius at heart and no amount of sleep will change that,"

Sakura and Ino glared at each other and then their gazes softened. They simultaneously giggled.

The two girls continued walking down the street, with wooden fences built as divisions for several houses situated in the location. As they rounded the corner, Sakura stopped suddenly.

At the exact place, she recalled, a certain sun kissed blonde asked her to meet him five years ago—more or less. She hadn't known at that time why or what he would say. She just casually strolled out on him, and he gripped her shoulder and whirled her around and she lashed out on him, punched him straight on his face and sent him flying back and crashing down.

She had been angry. That's what she always acted when she thought that Naruto will do something stupid in front of him. She was also aware that he liked her. Yet, in his obsession with Uchiha, she totally tuned him out. She had not realized how he risked his neck for her, how he always kept his promise. Especially when Sasuke left them.

Lee also did that for her, like the missing boy, he risked everything to protect her. With his 'youth speeches' and determination, he was successful in wooing her into her good graces. And she had liked him eventually, for real.

But Naruto was determined too, so why didn't she fall for him instead? In the matter of physical features, Naruto would have—by far—surpassed Lee, and with strength as we.. But why didn't she fall for him?

Why not him?

Sakura's thoughts flitted back to the brooding dark-haired shinobi she rarely saw and the look of loss and emptiness that haunted his eyes more so when Naruto suddenly disappeared burned her deeply. She realized long before that such emotions would never be directed at her, and frankly, she didn't think that Sasuke could bear such emotions.

But he did.

She was often ghosted by this particular look of dread. And when she saw him just after she saw those eyes… they were changed. It wasn't loss that inhabited those dark orbs… it was determination.

The very same look that Naruto used to have around her.

And at that fleeting moment, she knew she had lost.

Maybe that was what prompted her to accept Lee in her heart. She always knew that there were certain rules that should be followed. Just not in governing a country or commanding a squad of Anbus on a mission. There were ground rules—rules that told her that she should not step within the boundaries of what were claimed or when someone was obviously trying to claim a person. They were just… outright wrong. And she always followed the rules.

It did strike her hard when she grasped the concept. It was Sasuke and Naruto. But then, Sasuke and Naruto were always said in the same sentence one way or the other. Even when she didn't consider it being said in such manner.

How she greatly missed the company of the loud and brash boy! She always complained, yes, but now it felt that the world was too quiet without the blonde. The peace was sometimes too unsettling. And with the village piped down—no shouting, laughter on the streets—it was so, utterly boring.

"—then Chouji almost choked… Sakura? Sakura, you're not listening, are you?" quickly snapping herself of deliberations, she gave Ino an apologetic grin.

"Gomen, I was just thin--" the bag of groceries dropped to the ground, green eyes flickered with inexpressible amounts of shock and no other words formed out of her mouth.

"Sakura?" She was not heard, she knew, she just followed Sakura's gaze and smiled.

Outside her door, different kinds of flowers spread in all directions, covering almost her front porch in the display. "Oh my god… this is… this is…" Sakura couldn't find any words to express what she was feeling. Exhilarated, maybe. Happy, of course.

"You like it Sakura-chan?" a voice said from behind them and Sakura's face lighted up as she recognized it.

"Lee-kun!" she threw her hands around his neck like the lovers they were. "They're wonderful! But why such gesture?" she asked as she dropped onto the ground.

"I just want to say sorry for going back a week late from the mission. I promised you that I won't take long, but I broke it. Gomen!" Lee bowed his head and Sakura laughed.

"Don't be, Lee-kun. I'm not mad," she said and Lee smiled brightly, and then turned to Ino who was grinning behind them.

"Arigato, Ino," he told her and Ino gave him a thumbs up in response.

"What at you two talking about?" asked a curious Sakura, Ino walked to pick up Sakura's groceries and handed them to Lee who took them whole heartedly.

"Lee asked me to drag you away so he can arrange the flowers. Not that it was a problem, though. You were already going out when I saw you," Ino explained and Sakura smiled.

"Good for you then,"

"Yeah,"

The three of them went back inside Sakura's house as she promised to cook both of them dinner.

On her way in, at the corner of her eye, she saw one blonde hair, blue-eyed man walking past the street together with a long-haired guy in black clothes, walking past them. Her eyes narrowed extensively to make sure that she had not been seeing things. There was only one guy that had features like those...

Naruto.

"Sorry guys, but can you just go ahead and make yourself at home for a moment, I… I forgot to buy…leeks!" she excused herself and told Lee that she could go by herself when the boy was about to come with her. She insisted that he stay with Ino to keep her company. Trusting his girlfriend, he conceded.

Running deftly, she avoided the people that stood in her way, jumping to see whether she had followed that man in the right direction. She saw a streak of blonde and decided to pursue. As far as she knows, only three people had blonde hair that was residing in Konoha. One was the Godaime Hokage, the second was Ino and the third…

It did not help when she saw someone beside the said man who was knowingly a lot like Hyuuga Neji. And with the knowledge that the Hyuuga was with Naruto… she couldn't help but think…

No. She should concentrate on going after that man. If he was who Sakura really think he was then...

Then what? What will she do? Smile at him or shout at him? Punch him for suddenly disappearing or hug him for being able to return back safely? What will she do then? Tell him what an idiot he was or simply telling him that she missed him—his company?

Deciding to settle the conflicting matter later on, she pursued the stranger, determined.

The second she arrived on a fork in the road, she peered left and right but saw nothing that resembled the person she was following. Cursing lightly, she jumped for the rooftops and took a bird's eye view.

Fumbling for the blue shirt he always adorned on his body, he felt that this day was going to be very different. He could not see it, but he could very well feel it. There was something in the air that simply was diverse from the recent days that passed by. Whether it was good or bad, he did not know. He only knew that today was different.

How long has it been? Nine months? A year? Sasuke was not keeping track of how long Naruto left the village—or if he really left the village at all. There was an itching thought at the back of his mind that Naruto was simply within the confines of the village, in a place that was hidden or only a few people knew about.

It was reason enough for Sasuke not to go outside the village walls and become a missing-nin. Why was it then? He did not know, just like how there are many things he did not understand.

Despite that, he continued searching being an active ninja once again, but there was never a day he spent in the village he did not use to look for him.

It was Naruto who found him before. Now, it was his turn to find Naruto.

How ironic things turn out to be.

Never in his entire life of living as an Uchiha did he imagine that there would come a day where he would come searching for something—or someone for that matter—that will not give him intense power. He was an avenger; that he knew. And he shouldn't waste time going on fruitless expeditions that should've been used for training instead. He was supposed to drop everything else and pursue the rightful path of revenge that his brother made for him.

He vowed never to answer when someone came knocking on his door.

And in the past, he was fairly certain that no one, absolutely no one would ever come knocking.

So why did it turn out this way? He always prepared himself for worse situations, readied himself for the course of events that he expected or did not expect would happen. He raised himself up to live only to his own expectations. Not his brother's or the Hokage's. Only his own.

And before he knew it, he was straying down the path that lead neither to his goal of vengeance or living up to his beliefs. He was going down to no where and it only led to one conclusion.

He was a failure.

And what struck him most was that he did not mind nor cared at all. It was as if everything he had worked for in the past was nothing compared to what he was doing right at the moment.

He, after all, had a one-track mind.

And sometimes he thinks that having this kind of mind was the reason for his failure.

Nevertheless, he shouldn't have regrets. That's what it has always been. No room for regrets.

It was his day-off, a rare occurrence since the start of the war, but it was the on Godaime's insistence. It seemed like she was beginning to see the effects of Naruto's loss on him. And he cursed her for that. He blamed her, to say the least that she split their team up and put Naruto with Neji. And when he wanted to visit the blonde, she turned down his request. She had a reasonable explanation at first, but it wasn't enough to keep shut him out of Naruto's life or condition. She did not have the right to do that.

And then, Naruto shut him out.

And the blonde had every right to do that.

But he couldn't accept it. Not from the Hokage's mouth. Not until he heard it from Naruto himself.

But where was he?

He jumped from the top of a rooftop and quietly fell and landed on the ground. The view from above in no ways changed and he was tired of the same old view he constantly saw whenever he was in patrol. Sasuke calmly decided to just stay on the ground, where normal people usually walked. But he was not normal. Not in any sense. Not especially when he was trying to reach a goal that seemed like an impossible task to do. No, he was different.

And so is Naruto.

Before he noticed it, he was already in the area where Ichiraku's was standing, all in its own proud glory, a few unknown people sitting on the wooden chairs. There was no orange, yellow and blue in sight. Sasuke chuckled darkly. Of course there wouldn't be. Only one person would wear such loud, obnoxious orange jump suit. Only one.

And blindly, Sasuke wondered, when had he become so used in seeing such bright colors that tended to hurt his eyesight after settling for dark hues of blue that he came to miss it?

Maybe it was one of the wonders Naruto does.

He left as inaudibly as he came; was leaving no traces of his presence in the air. Walking in the direction of the training grounds, he wandered unobtrusively as his memories slithered into the blankness of his empty mind, filling his inner senses of what used to be the old days he languidly shoved aside, not treasuring each passing moment with the person that turned out to be his most important one. Was he too late? He certainly did not hope so. His body might live but his soul may perish. And in every transient remembrance that faded into the background, he too slowly wilted inside, seemingly crashing to the point of no return.

The candle that kept his soul burning flickered as it was gradually wearing out.

There were three huge logs that stood at the entrance of the training grounds. It was cracked at one side, or peeled at another, proof that someone was always training with them.

And in his haste to control the flooding memoirs of his childhood he wasted, he spotted two people walking in his direction.

One was Neji who was undeniably talking to a person beside him.

Dark eyes narrowed and widened as his eyes trailed to the person at Neji's side. There it was; the one he was searching for all this time. The bright smile, the warm, lingering gaze that his azure eyes smoldered when he gave you his attention, the golden hair that topped it all off… the whole package.

Yet, in his state of mind, he couldn't do anything but to stay put, nailed to the ground as Naruto's blue eyes turned their attention on him, linking it with his own dark ones that unconsciously turned red in his disbelief and the duo kept on walking and walking until those blue eyes left his own and returned to Neji's.

And Naruto bypassed him with not so much as a nod to acknowledge his presence.

-Continued-

A/N: I just read read the whole story from the first channel until the twelfth channel and I can't believe that this story actually got over a hundred reviews since everything is so lame. I'm not joking at all. As I reread it over and over, I can't believe how I made Sasuke so out of character in the third channel or how I made Naruto say all those cheesy lines in the eighth channel and how I made him act all through the entire story. EVERYTHING IS JUST SO DARN LAME! And Neji's demeanor is also the same story as Sasuke's. They are so out of character. You people must be so nice to give me that much attention over the past month of shameless and utter useless writing.

/sigh/ as you guys noticed, I'm on a major set-back here (and I can't even bare to read the channels I finished again!) And I want you guys to tell me what you liked or don't like on the story, and I'll do over the things you hated. Yes, hated.

And this is not a request, this is an order you can't refuse! So click that 'Go' button for reviews and pour out your soul to me!

…please?