Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, but unfortunately for them, I own this storyline
Storyline- Naruto, after retrieving Sasuke, begins to learn a little bit more about why he's hated, who his friends really are, and why his attitude is beginning to change.
Morgri- Hey, wow, Thanks so much for the reviews, especially yours Ryoko :) Anyways, I had a lot of ask me for the pairing. As I said it will be a stranger pairing. Maybe Ino/Naruto, or TenTen/ Naruto… Or possibly… No, that'll never happen XD
Anyways, thanks for reading chapter 1, and I hope you enjoy the second… Don't forget, tell your friends to read :)
Story begins after chapter -118.
Morgri- By the way, this story takes place mostly in Naruto's point of view.
"Character Speaking"
Flash back
-POV-
Thoughts
Shift in time. POV, or scene
When Did You Change?
Morgri
Episode Two: Return
So… Here I am, holding the affection of all… well ok, most of my hate, in my hands. Pretty freaky huh? At least I can bring him back, hah score one with Sakura. Hey maybe people will invent a new saying… 'A promise kept is a kiss earned' Hah! Sounds good to me…
"Cough… Cough"
Well enough daydreaming… I actually still got a long ways to go… I know the mission isn't complete yet, and I know that the others may actually still be fighting. I hope their alright… All of them. Haha, listen to me, I'm sounding way to compassionate at the moment… after all, I got my own self to take care of… However, I would rather they get home safe than me, besides they have a life to go home to, while I have a small house and a bunch of angry villagers… Oh! Don't get me wrong, I know for sure that their view on me won't change, whether I rescued Sasuke or not, but… At least I may be able to earn Sakura's recognition you know.
Ugh… My head hurts… and my chest. How am I going to do this? How How! I can't carry him that far… I don't have the strength to right now… I need… I need help. Yes, I know… I'm not supposed to need help, it's supposed to be against my character… Pff… Need help… Well! Surprise… I know I need help. You know they explained what a chunin does and despite popular thought, I actually listened. You see a chunin isn't someone who battles or fights for his own good, a chunin is one who battles and fights to protect… That's right, to protect. I think I learned that not long ago, when I fought Gaara, with my life on the line… You know what… I was afraid then… Yes, I was scared of Gaara, even when I didn't act like it.
"Cough Cough"
You see, I beat him to protect someone else. Sakura… The person that… You know… I'm not really sure about her anymore… I used to like her so much! I tried to talk to her, and tried to love her… I really did! What did I get out of it though? More… what would call it… rejection? Nah… more like ignorance… She always just ignored me… She then has the nerve to ask me to go and retrieve Sasuke! Hahaha… and look at me… I did! Why did I do it though? Why, why? I'll tell you why… Because… I still wanted to believe in my heart that everything would change… That all the pain in my life would just disappear…
Oh how wrong I was
You see, the pain never goes away. You know why? I sure don't… because I just… because I… I just don't know. I wish some one would tell me. Iruka knows, but he always just avoids the subject… He says 'It all go away soon Naruto.' I want to believe that… I really want to believe that so much! So why can't I? Why… can't I? Maybe it's because… maybe it's because, it still hasn't gone away. It's still here, in my heart, consuming me… Just like it did Sasuke.
But, I'm not going to end up like Sasuke, Looking pitiful… I'm not going to get caught in the trap of lust, and power. At least, I'll try not too… After all, it only took Sasuke what… six years? Haha, that's not too much time… ok so half of my life, but I am after all, only 12. See… there it is again, the 'revenge' deal. See, I told you it was strong… Proves my point yet again.
Hey, weird things to be talking about no? Especially in the midst of a mission that's incomplete. So I better get going, the others are probably still waiting…
Ugh… Sasuke is friekin heavy! What does this guy eat? My gosh…
"Ok enough complaining," I said out loud to myself. You know, just to see if I'm really still breathing… Phew, I'm tired…
So here I am moving, looking for my buddies… Alone… with someone extremely heavy on my back. Wonderful, just wonderful. I bet your probably wondering where in the world all this complaining just came from… I see your point, I normally don't complain this much… Hehehe.
Did you know that I always wasn't this way, you know now, the way I act. I used to be calm, no to loud. I used to just sit on my swing… Yes MY swing, all day long. Watching the kids play with their friends… hoping! That one day, someone would come and talk to me… It never did happen though, no one ever came.
Oh and by the way, I am moving… just so you don't think I am slacking off… stupid mind of mine…
You see, I always though that, if I were polite, then someone would come and talk to me. That the adults would come complement me on small things… It never happened, that's when I learned that, acknowledgement doesn't come to you, you have to go get it. So! Guess what I did, I turned into a prankster… Yup, and a mighty good one at that… So, instead of just being ignored, people actually knew I was there, they just didn't care. Either that, or they would get all annoyed and mad, and would either cuss me out, or shew me off. You know what, I actually enjoyed the screams at first, simply because I though people knew I was there… You know… But that didn't last to long. Pretty soon the glaring started up, the mean words and the name calling, the fox boy, they brat, the nobody with no parents. Pretty soon the screams weren't enough, I needed more… More people to look at me, to see me. So I became even more obnoxious… I painted over everything, I broke whatever I could find… I tore down everything within my radius of movement. Yeah, I was a really bad kid, but so what? Why was I supposed to care, as long as people saw me, it didn't even matter.
So you see? Acknowledgement is a very powerful thing. I thought I was happy when I was being screamed at, getting yelled at all the time, but in reality, I was suffering… So much. I used the lies to just make me feel only a little better… Haha you don't know how much I wish I could go back to being the polite little boy that sat on the swing and watched those kids… You honestly don't know… I think that would help me out so much more now, than it did then. You understand… why I can't though, don't you? It's because, I am now who they see… the trouble maker, the pain in the butt, the Demon Fox Naruto… and that's what hurts the most.
Maybe if I were to take it one step at a time, you know, be calm now and then, I could slowly make my way to being that calm kid. I don't know though… Maybe I will, maybe I won't.
"Cough… Cough"
Ok, I've been traveling for like an hour now… Sheesh, did I really travel that far from them? I don't remember… I thought it was only like a couple of miles, not all this. The forest just seems to go on and on… Could it be an illusion… No, I don't think so… I can see through illusions, none of these are the same area's I've been in… I guess I should just keep going. Tree… another tree… tree… Lalala…
OH! Here we go…
I came to what looked like sort of a valley. Green plants, filled with dew… It was indescribable how it looked to me at the time. It's like I was in peace, no worries, just like all my worries were… Lifted off. Pfff… I donno why, its must be one of those 'relaxing' ideas thought up in books.
"Naruto!! You got him!"
You know the kind that tells you everyone has something that relaxes them or something… Pssh… I don't even know what I'm talking about… I don't read enough…
"Naruto!! Naruto, hey Naruto…"
"Hmph"
I saw a hand moving across my face…
"Huh?" I said, duh, I must have been in a trance… Dang, I'm thinking way too much today. "Oh yeah, sorry I did! HAHAHAH!!"
"You look really hurt Naruto, are you ok!" It was Lee who asked me this. Now that I remembered, he was the one who enabled me to actually make it to Sasuke.
"Hahaha, I'm fine… It was all Easy.. Easy!!" I attempted to glorify myself… But hey, who wouldn't after beating there rival…?
"Whatever…"
Gaara? What was he doing here… Well, my as well ask…
"Gaara? Why are you here?"
"A mission to help the leaf…" Well his voice is still as cold as ever hehehe… some things never change… obviously…
"Oh… Well that's cool," I was enthused of course, it's not every day your friendly neighborhood demon comes and helps you…
"…Cool…" Gaara tried to say back… It was actually funny watching him, but I was too tired to laugh…
"OOOOOHHH! YESH!!! We are a team now, let's go find the others! I'll tell you what Gaara, really helped me… I was like getting bea…."
Haha, well look that, I knew all along there was hope for Gaara, I'm glad he's turned Goo… well umm nicer than before. Maybe we can be friends, I bet it would make him happy, it would thrill me! Hmmm… well I guess we better find the others…
"And Gaara came back, and used the heck of an awesome Bury alive move thing, and I was like YESH! So, now I can use this opportunity to get Sakura-ch…"
Hehehe, He sure likes to talk… Well that's thick brows for you… Well, I hate to cut short his party but…
"Lee, umm, I think we should go find the others…"
"YESH!!"
"Ok…" Gaara, haha, he is so calm, even during battles. I wonder how he keeps his cool. I guess the fact that nothing can really touch him puts some self confidence in him… And he has got that demon to back him up… Hey sort of like me huh?
"OK!!! Lets go!!!"
We all started to our journey back into the Konoha forest… hehe, I'm tired of forests…
"Cough… Cough"
So… back into Konoha forest… I got some people here with me, so I don't have to worry about enemies. All we got left is to find Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, and Chouji… Oh and the other two sand ninja's; Who where they, ummm… Temari and kokoro… no umm… Konkura… well whatever his name is.
You, I knew… Well I didn't know, but I kinda figured when I first met Gaara, I you know, kinda knew how he felt. I knew there was something there that caused him so much pain, some thing that made him how he is now. If you think about it, no one normal kid is like that. A normal kid doesn't feel the pain we feel. Sure the may get sad, or disappointed, but there never in pain. Well, that's what I think, but I always could be wrong. You know, well, I just don't know what to say.
"Hey!!!" Yelled the infamous Kiba, looks like that battle was through, and once again the good guys win. Kiba, and Temari, hmmm two down four people to go.
"Ugh… How troublesome…" The always less than energetic Shikamaru spat out… You know I bet he's tired, not of fighting but of working… Well, maybe he learned something, working is troublesome… hehehe…
"Gaara…" Well, there is the less that fluent Temari…
We made our way towards Konoha, every once in a while stopping to rest our weak bodies, attempting to recover as much strength as possible. Only two people were left to be found. Chouji, and Neji. I'm sure Neji isn't dead, he is way to strong. Even if he is hurt to a large extent, he won't die, 'cause he still has a purpose in life, and you know what it is? To beat me… Heh… I can pretty much bet you that that's his life purpose. You know what though, I really don't feel like fighting him anymore. Not because I think I can beat him, because I'm tired… Tired of being the underdog. Why fight, if even when you win you not acknowledged?
Hours passed on our way back and sure enough, Neji was as alive as ever… which isn't very much I might add. I'm sure he will make safely, even if he's got four holes in his body, hey sacrifices must be made huh? Haha, I sound mean right now… Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm not worried about him, it's just, I don't want to worry about him. Why you ask? Why worry about something that will only make me loose my vision? Even if he was my friend, he is still one more obstacle in my way to attaining the status of Hokage, and I don't need that. Sure I hope he lives, 'm not that heartless, I just really don't want him in my way.
We found Chouji only a few miles from Neji… I know he will be fine, all he did was bun out all his energy. Energy can be replaced with his favorite hobby, what you ask? Food probably, I know I don't have a problem with it.
You know Chouji is an alright guy, I have to admit that. Even when he was underestimated, under minded, he still fought a battle that he wasn't supposed to win.
He won….
See, underestimation is always a huge factor in a battle. I'm sure I've told you that before… Chouji was always underestimated, except for by two people… Himself, and Shikamaru. See, Shikamaru understands the value of taking a battle seriously, even when he doesn't care. He knows a battle will mean life or death Nine outa ten times… I've learned a lot from him since I first met him. I've learned that, it's not always strength that wins a battle, or speed, or whatever else you want to add. I learned it takes thinking, even the strongest person can be out smarted. I think Shikamaru proved that when he fought Temari.
Finally after hours of traveling, and endless walking we reached our destination.
Konoha…
I wonder how they will greet us, seeing we came back with our mission successfully. I wonder what Sakura will think… I hope she thinks well….
End Episode 2
Morgri- I know this is probably a very disappointing chapter, but that is because it was never planned to be in the story. Since I left that first chapter at the end of Sasuke's battle, I had to bring them back to Konoha. The next chapter will be much better, because I had it planned out. Hope you all continue to read and give feedback.
Morgri.