Fire: Welcome to Chapter 6!
Naruto: (waving an unenthusiastic flag) Yay.
Fire: Be more enthusiastic! Sasuke would have been more-- (covers mouth quickly with both hands)
Naruto: (slumping to the floor) Sasuke... (sniff)
Fire: (giving Naruto a quick hug before turning back to the audience) Well...on with concerns about the last chapter.
Sakura: (trying to cheer up Naruto) Good reviews!
Fire: First, I want to apologize for being so mean to Naruto. A lot of people have sent in reviews about Naruto's current situation, and I know that it's sad. That's why it's partially a tragedy. I can't promise that it's going to get any better...
Naruto: (even louder) WAAH!
Fire: ...but I don't hate Naruto. In fact, Naruto happens to be one of my favourite characters. That's why I just have to give him a hard time. That's the kind of character he is. You can only love him more because he's a tragic character, like all the other extremely powerful male characters in Naruto (especially Naruto with Sasuke, Gaara, and Kakashi not too far behind), not to mention most of the female characters as well (especially Tsunade with Sakura, Anko, Shizune, and Chiyo not too far behind).
Kakashi: Don't I know it...
Fire: Now I know that we all love Naruto. And I can't stress that enough...Naruto!
Naruto: (suddenly stops crying) Huh?
Fire: (finally ignoring Naruto now that he has stopped crying) But we won't really love him as much if he wasn't the tragic character that he is. That's what makes Naruto, Naruto. (smiles) But I still like the feedback about how tragic he is. It reminds me that I'm doing my job and writing the story correctly. But...don't hate me too much if bad things happen to him.
Kakashi: (pointing to himself) What about me?
Fire: Don't worry, nothing bad's going to happen to you...for now.
Kakashi: I don't like the sound of that.
Sakura: Um...Naruto's still crying.
Naruto: (slumping on the ground, sulking) ...
Fire: At least he's not making any noise anymore.
Kakashi: ...
Sakura: ...
Fire: ...Okay, that's weird, even for me.
Kakashi: The noisiest ninja in all of Konoha...
Sakura: ...not making noise...
Kakashi: Hokage-sama! (shunshins away)
Fire: (sweating) We're going to find a medic-nin for Naruto. You...just read the new chapter! (grabs Naruto and runs for the nearest exit)
Sakura: (runs after Fire and Naruto) I know where the hospital is!
---------------------------
Disclaimer: Nothing's changed yet... Kishimoto-sensei still owns Naruto. I still only have Naruto stocks. But I do own the verb 'to shunshin' and all conjugations (ie. I shunshin, you shunshin, he/she shunshins...etc, shunshin-ed, and shunshin-ing). Although Kishimoto-sensei still owns the technique, 'shunshin no jutsu.' (sniff)
---------------------------
Chapter 6: Waiting for Sasuke
When Sakura came to the gates a few days after Sasuke's departure, she found Naruto sitting with his back against the wall that surrounded Konoha, his head lowered against the knees folded against his chest. His arms were folded, his hands clutching his hair in painful clumps, his hitai-ate lying at his side in the dust. She stood in front of him, not quite sure what to do. She was sure that Naruto never intended for anyone to see him like this, even if countless passing citizens must have seen him waiting here by now. Even the sentries were unsure of what to do about him. The boy has been sitting there for such a long time now.
Sakura had come earlier–on the day that Sasuke had left Konoha–and had seen Sasuke walking out of the village, but she couldn't bring herself to walk forward to say goodbye. She had seen the dark-haired boy's hand rise up to touch the blond chuunin with such shaking uncertainty, then retreat in such tormented pain that she had wanted to grab him and not let him go. She had had every intention of convincing Sasuke to stay.
But the words that Naruto had said to him, those five words... 'I'll just...let you go.' ...had frozen Sakura in her place. She had seen the tears roll down the sides of Naruto's face with such vivid emotion that she couldn't face them with her selfish desire. That day, she had run away without a word to Sasuke, or to Naruto.
She had waited a few days to allow herself to forget that heart wrenching emotion which had welled up at the sight of them together, but even as she looked down at Naruto's sorrowful body, she couldn't help but feel the world weighing heavily on her chest, suffocating her.
"Ano...Naruto?" Sakura said cautiously as she bent down to look at him a little more closely. "Daijoubu?"
The blond turned his head side to side before lifting his face in a huge smile to look at Sakura. "Yeah!" He said, sounding overly happy as he looked at her, but she could see the puffiness in his eyes and the glistening wet lines on his sleeves that said otherwise. He was crying. "Demo...Sakura-chan gomen... Sasuke has already left."
Sakura smiled sadly at Naruto, her eyes sparking with unshed tears. He can be so clueless sometimes...but, that was why she liked being around him. That apology... She knew what he was really apologizing for... "I know," she said as she held out her hand to Naruto.
She understood now. Sasuke had never wanted to be with her. Sasuke...had wanted to be with...him.
"Come, Naruto. I'll buy you some ramen at Ichiraku's."
But, she wasn't going admit that to herself. In her heart, she knew, but her mind insisted... Sasuke only had a crush on Naruto. He would return to her sooner or later. Naruto could never give him what he really wanted. Sasuke could never truly love the blond shinobi...
"Okay, Sakura-chan." Naruto grabbed his dirty hitai-ate with one hand and his pack with the other, his face falling for a single moment before he covered his worry and sorrow with his all too familiar mask of happiness. He smiled his huge smile at Sakura as he walked alongside her. He was sure that she didn't know about him and Sasuke, and he wanted to keep it from her for as long as possible, even though he could never bring himself to ask her for a date as he did before. His heart died at the thought of betraying Sasuke. "Ramen!" He said with forced joy, even though he didn't really want to go to the ramen stand today. "Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!"
And in Naruto's adamant concentration, he didn't even notice the passing pain that flitted over the pink-haired kunoichi's face as she looked at him. And...there was something else there as well. Sakura couldn't quite name it...because she didn't want to name it. If she had had to assign it a name, she knew that it would be jealousy.
Sakura knew that she didn't want to feel this way. Naruto was her friend. She didn't want to hate him like this, but her heart cried out for Sasuke so loudly that it deafened her ears to the sound of friendship calling out from her conscience. Sasuke... His deep dark eyes... The melodious sound of his voice as he said her name... 'Sakura...' She couldn't get it out of her mind!
She looked over to the blond boy who sat at her side, eating his second bowl of ramen. Only his SECOND bowl of ramen! Even with all the blond's hard work to appear unaffected by Sasuke's leaving, his behaviour betrayed him. The red eyes that looked out from the Kyuubi jinchuuriki's face, the hollow love of ramen here at Ichiraku's, the pained looks from the only two staff members at this ramen stand said a million things to her observant shinobi eyes. Even if the brain beyond her wide forehead hadn't realized it yet, there was no way she would have missed it now. The blond nin missed the Uchiha...even more than she did.
Her eye twitched a little as jealousy entered her heart and clouded her mind once more. Her hand hovered over the kunai pouch at her side, but her conscience wouldn't allow her to do what her hand wanted to do. She wouldn't stab Naruto. She wouldn't torture him. She wouldn't make him swear to leave Sasuke alone!
Her hand dropped from her side, and she laid it on the counter to clutch the cold glass of frozen smoothie in front of her tightly. She had ordered something cold, hoping that it would cool her down, calm the jealous anger that swirled within her and threatened to destroy Naruto at all costs.
The pink-haired Kunoichi took a long sip, ignoring the freezing headache that came with drinking too fast.
"Sakura-chan..." The words came slow.
Sakura turned to look at Naruto who was looking back at her in return. His second bowl was empty. "Yes, Naruto-kun? You want another bowl of–"
The blond nin shook his head, cutting off her sentence with the simple gesture. "No," he said as he looked down at the counter, avoided the concerned gaze of the kunoichi. He knew that it probably looked suspicious–strange that he didn't eat more–but, he just wanted to go home now and pretend that Sasuke was still here...in Konoha...just, not with him right now...but he'll drop by later–perhaps tomorrow–and they would train together like they used to, or since Kakashi-sensei was back, they would go on a mission–maybe a D-ranked mission–and he would complain to Tsunade-obaachan about how they should get a higher ranking mission considering how they were chuunin now, and Sasuke would call him baka and a dobe and he would yell at him... Naruto smiled to himself at the thought. "I...just want to go home." But he wasn't going to tell Sakura that he wanted to pretend that Sasuke was still around. If he did, he might...
His eyes were itching, and his vision was blurring slowly.
"Bye, Sakura-chan. Arigatou...for the ramen." He turned away quickly before the tears welling in his eyes could spill over.
'Chikusho! I swore I won't cry anymore!'
Naruto ran home before anyone could look close enough to see the round drops of light that flew from his eyes and disappeared into the air, leaving only an empty darkness in his chest.
Two days...that was how long Naruto lay in bed, staring at his ceiling. His mind was numb...because he had refused to allow it to think of anything. If he had allowed it to think, it would have eventually trailed off toward the topic of...Sasuke. And he couldn't allow that to happen.
He hadn't eaten since the day Sasuke left, since the two bowls of ramen that Sakura had bought for him. That was about four days ago now. And he was hungry.
'That was so nice of Sakura-chan, even though I...'
Stole her boyfriend?
'Urusai, damn Kyuubi!'
The Kyuubi snickered at that. It is true...isn't it?
Naruto was silent as he stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. "Yeah," he sighed in defeat. The Kyuubi might be a pain in the neck, but he hasn't been wrong yet...although he wasn't going to tell the demon that. He didn't want to inflate the kitsune's ego.
"Naruto." A cheery voice came from the door to his bedroom, and for a moment, the blond thought about pretending to be asleep. But he knew that the grey-haired jounin wouldn't fall for it. "I brought you a fruit basket." Kakashi was too persistent. He would probably jab at Naruto until he woke up.
Naruto turned his head slightly to look at the basket in his sensei's hand. Then, he turned to stare at the ceiling once more. Kakashi had let himself in again, through the window in his living room, or perhaps his kitchen. He should think about getting those locks fixed...but Kakashi-sensei would probably shunshin in if he did that...
"Just put it down," the blond chuunin said. His voice was monotone.
"Come now Naruto," Kakashi said as he ignored the blond's suggestion. "You're going to die of starvation." He held out an orange, but after a moment's neglect, he placed the orange back into the basket and placed the basket onto the floor. "I know you haven't eaten anything for two days."
'Great... Now Kakashi-sensei's stalking me...'
"I'm fine on my own," the jinchuuriki said as he closed his eyes. He was so tired. He didn't want to leave his comfortable bed. He just wanted to pretend that Sasuke never left, and in order to do that, he had to stay here...because if he left this bed, he would see that the village was empty, that the Uchiha was gone.
Naruto knew that it was unusual for him to lie in bed like this and mope around, but it was difficult to do anything else. With his curtains closed, the comfortable darkness engulfed him, and he could forget about Sasuke's absence for a while...forget about his promise.
'Just...wait for me...'
And the blond shinobi couldn't possibly break his promise to Sasuke. That was his way of the ninja! He would never take back his word...especially his word to Sasuke!
"I'll buy you ramen..." Kakashi tried tempting the boy. Ramen usually worked. At least, that was what Iruka said, and Kakashi's past experience proved it. He needed something to cheer up the blond nin.
Kakashi hadn't known that Sasuke was back. When he had left on that mission to search for any signs of Akatsuki, Sasuke was with Orochimaru, but of course that was back in April. It was mid-July when he returned.
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura thought to herself as she looked at her sensei. His visit was unexpected, and she didn't know what her mother and father would do if they knew that her perverted sensei was sitting in her room...with her...alone. But Sakura didn't think about things like that. "Hmm... Makes sense that you wouldn't know. He returned about a month after you left."
Kakashi was listening with intense concentration. "And...? Why did he leave Orochimaru! What was he doing at Naruto's house!" He was out of the loop. He needed to know. It wasn't even because he was gossiping! He just wanted to know the extent of the damage he had done when he went to Naruto's house.
Sakura stared at her sensei. "He was...at Naruto's house?" She hadn't known that...
And Kakashi felt the killer intent in the air suddenly rise. "Uh... Just tell me why Sasuke returned!" He couldn't believe how the kunoichi was acting, but then, of course she would be angry...especially since he had told her that he had run into Sasuke in the morning. He hadn't told her that it was with Naruto though...but she was smart enough to figure that out by now.
Sakura stared at Kakashi. "It was because he had learned everything that he could from Orochimaru...and it still wasn't enough. He said that he had found out that Orochimaru was weak compared to members of Akatsuki. So, since his brother's a part of this organization, and Orochimaru is supposed to be weaker than every one of them...there was no point in studying under him. He just left and returned here once he caught up with Naruto." Sakura shrugged, as if it was nothing. "But all he did was talk about Naruto...or he wanted to be with Naruto...then he left me for Naruto!" Her voice was angry now. "If he was so much in love with him, why didn't he tell me in the first place!"
So, Kakashi could understand what he had done to Naruto. He couldn't help but want to cheer him up. Buying him ramen was the least he could do after destroying their harmonious little relationship.
"No, thank you anyway, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said as he pulled his blankets over his head, trying to muffle out the sound of the grey-haired man's voice. He wasn't in the mood to eat anything, not even ramen. "Just leave me alone."
Kakashi pulled the blanket down forcefully from the blond's bed, letting all of it just fall to the floor, leaving Naruto's pyjama-clad body uncovered. "Okay," he said with stifled annoyance as he plopped himself down on the edge of the bed. He had tried one way to cheer up Naruto, and now he was going to resort to drastic measures. "I was going to say it later...after I ask Hokage-sama about it, but..." He took a deep breath. He hadn't actually thought about telling Naruto this at all. Chances were...it wouldn't work. "...I'm putting together a team to go after Sasuke...as backup." But he guessed that Naruto would want to come since they both knew that Sasuke had gone alone, and Tsunade hadn't assigned anyone to watch over him...
Besides, it would take Naruto out of this slump and cheer him up if he were to see Sasuke again...
But, Kakashi wasn't prepared for Naruto's reaction.
Naruto's eyes snapped open and he stared at his sensei in attendant surprise. For a moment, the light was back in his eyes. "Really!" He shouted as he sat up in his bed. Kakashi moved back a little...then a bit more as the foul odour of three days' neglected hygiene hit him. "Take me with you! Please take me with you, Kakashi-sensei!" He had to help him. He had to help Sasuke. This was Sasuke's goal, his dream! And Naruto wanted to be a part of it...
'Just...wait for me.' Sasuke's face when he said those words filled Naruto's vision.
'Yeah... I'll just...let you go.'
Naruto's face fell as he remembered the promise that he had made to Sasuke. "I want to go...but..." His way of the ninja... He couldn't break his word...
Kakashi's eyes widened a little at the blond's words. Anyone could see the battle waging within the blond shinobi. The jounin could remember those words first spoken by Naruto on their first C-ranked mission together as a team, repeated at the Chuunin Exams. 'I won't go back on my word. That's my way of the ninja!'
"I'm sure that Sasuke could use your help," he said a little slyly as he stood up from the boy's bed. If he didn't think of something, Naruto wouldn't be coming with him...which wouldn't a bad thing, but he would just be sulking in the dark anyway... "He could use the support. This IS Akatsuki he's headed into." ...and Kakashi couldn't just let Naruto fall into such a depression.
Naruto nodded his head slowly at the thought. Kakashi was right. Kakashi was always right. Just this once, he was going to go against his word. At least, he thought about going against his word...
'But I can't! I can't go against my word!'
He couldn't just go, not when he had promised himself that he would keep his promise...not when he had promised Sasuke that he would wait for him here, in Konoha...not when Sasuke was expecting him to be waiting at the gates for his return...not when Sasuke didn't want him to be there...
'Sasuke...'
An image of Sasuke, fighting his brother, flashed into Naruto's mind. Kunai... Shuriken... Blood-covered... Pain...all over Sasuke's face.
Naruto's entire body froze, encased in freezing ice that numbed his skin completely. This pain that had spread through his body...this freezing cold that had entered his chest... He had felt this before...when they had fought Haku...when he had thought that Sasuke was dead.
'Sasuke can't be dead!'
Sitting up in his bed, Naruto clutched his chest with a frantic hand, trying to pry that uneasy emotion from his heart.
'Sasuke... Can he hold up against Akatsuki...by himself!'
There was such apprehension within him at what he was about to do, but the weight was even heavier when he realized that he couldn't not break his word. He couldn't help but feel as if he needed to get to Sasuke...now! 'To hell with my promise! I can't just let Sasuke get himself killed!' Because if he didn't get to Sasuke now, Sasuke really might die.
Kakashi didn't know anything about the argument within Naruto's mind, but he had seen the boy's slow nod, and the jounin had taken it as consent. "I'll come get you later," he said as he looked at the blond nin one more time to make sure that he wasn't going to do anything stupid...then walked toward the door.
"Kakashi-sensei..." Even with urgency pulling within him, none of that emotion showed in Naruto's calm voice.
"Yes, Naruto?" The grey-haired jounin stopped at the door, his hand on the doorframe. He didn't turn around.
"Use the front door."
The jounin slowly continued on his way out. It wasn't anything important...as he had feared. For a moment, he had thought that Naruto had changed his mind. "Yes...of course, Naruto. I'll see you later."
As the door closed after his sensei, Naruto felt the vacuum in his stomach–which has been around since Sasuke left–fill with fluttering anticipation and excitement. He was going to see Sasuke again...and he would help him.
And you'll break your promise.
And he didn't care if he broke his promise! He didn't care if Sasuke got mad at him. As long as he was with him again, he knew that the dark-haired chuunin would be happy. He knew that it would be okay.
'At least...I hope he'll be happy to see me...'
And for a moment, the fear that had momentarily left the blond shinobi's body, filled him again, and he slumped back into his bed, surrounded by that heavy darkness.
End Chapter 6
---------------------------
Fire's English tidbits for those who care:
Here's another confusing pair: 'affect' and 'effect.' I'm not sure if anyone actually pays that much attention to what I write, but I used the term 'unaffected' instead of 'uneffected' in the fourteenth paragraph from the first (inclusive). Why? 'Affect' is used to denote emotion. 'To affect' means to bring about an 'effect'. 'Effect' as a noun is the result of a cause, the result of making something happen. 'To effect' means the same thing as 'to cause something to happen' or 'to bring about a change.' I don't know how to really explain it better than that. They both have similar meanings to begin with... Consult your nearest English teacher, English professor, English expert or dictionary if you're still confused.
Fire's babbling:
Fire: We're back from the hospital and Naruto is just fine!
Naruto: (waving shyly at everyone, embarrassed about what had happened earlier) Hi...
Fire: (looks at the story)
Naruto: (looks at the story)
Fire: (speaking slowly) Well, that's some 'way of the ninja,' Naruto... Seems like you can just abandon it whenever you want...
Naruto: (growling in annoyance) I'm not abandoning it! My way of the ninja also states to protect those most precious to you too! It's the first rule! (mumbling to self) Other than not killing others if you can avoid it, keeping your promises, living on because death is not the...
Fire: (smiling and cutting off Naruto's list) Oh...I know all that! I just thought that we might want to clarify it.
Naruto: (still annoyed) You're worse than Kakashi-sensei...
Kakashi: (sad) I'm really that bad...?
Naruto: Where were you!
Kakashi: (slumping visibly) I was standing right here...
Both Fire and Naruto: (shouting) Liar!
Kakashi: (insisting) But I was... (fading into the background again)
Fire: (abandoning the Kakashi-bashing) Now some concerns you might have had with the story...?
Naruto: Orochimaru's weak...? I didn't know that...
Fire: Every member of Akatsuki is strong enough to easily defeat Orochimaru in an even one-on-one battle. You learn something new everyday, don't you, Naruto?
Naruto: (crossing his arms) I knew that...
Fire: So...they're going to go after Sasuke... Who didn't see it coming? (looking around for a show of hands) Well...the problem would be catching up to Sasuke. It has been four days since he left Konoha, and who knows if he has caught up with his brother yet.
Naruto: (ears perking up at Sasuke's name) Sasuke! WAAH! (cries)
Sakura: (trying to comfort Naruto) I'm sure he'll be fine...
Fire: And Sakura really is genuinely concerned about Naruto. At the moment, she's just dwelling in a confusing place where she is concerned about Naruto, jealous of Naruto, likes Naruto, hates Naruto, etc. She doesn't really hate Naruto though.
Sakura: (yelling) Why would I hate Naruto!
Inner Sakura: Shannaro!
Fire: (ignoring Sakura) See you next chapter. Remember to review.
Sakura: (angry) You didn't answer me, dammit!