Me: oooh I got so many reviews so soon! I hope this chapter does justice for the last one. tnx to all of u who did review! Keep em comin! And don't forget for the sake of this story, Sasuke didn't go to Orochimaru. And there is kinda a future char in here soo…yea. Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter 2:
Dead or Alive
"Where is she?" Tsunade slammed a stack of papers onto her desk. She sighed heavily and messaged her throbbing temples. "It's been…six months…and not a trace of her." Her stern voice turned from frustration to concern in a matter of seconds.
"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, but we've searched everywhere! We also have our allies in the neighboring countries keeping a look out for her," a Jounin said. "And we still have one more team that's due to be back any second."
A knock at the door seemed to confirm the statement. The Fifth called them in, hoping against hope there was some kind of news about her long lost apprentice.
"Ah! That hit the spot!" Naruto sighed happily as he leaned back in his stool at his favorite ramen place. A loud burp escaped his mouth. He blushed and smiled sheepishly at Hinata who couldn't help but giggle.
Sasuke rolled his eyes as he pushed away his bowl. He had, once again, been dragged to eat here with Naruto and Hinata. He watched the two, Naruto playfully tickling the Hyuuga girl who was, between laughing, trying to get him back. It was so overly cute and couple like that it almost made Sasuke want to throw up the ramen he had just eaten. Still, part of him felt a pang of envy as he watched the two. His pink haired teammate suddenly flashed across his mind's eye.
She's gone though…Anger began to swell in his chest. He gripped his chopsticks, easily breaking the thin wood in half. Angry at her for putting the team through this and at himself, knowing he was probably the reason she decided to up and leave that night.
But I've said that to her almost everyday since we were kids! Why was it so special now
A poof of smoke from behind caused the three ninjas to turn around. Kakashi was standing there, his face still in that perverted book of his. He looked up at his students plus one. "Hinata, I'm sorry but I have to steal Naruto and Sasuke. Tsunade has called a special meeting for us. We need to be there in five minutes."
"Ne? What's all this about? Baa-chan knows today is our day off!" Naruto whined.
The Copy Nin looked at the loud blonde. "It's not about a mission, Naruto." He hoped that the usually dense boy would get it, without him having to say it too publicly. His hopes were in vain, though, as the fox boy still remained lost. "It doesn't matter, we still have to go there, ok? Hurry up you two." With that he was gone again in another puff of smoke.
"Naruto, go. It has to be important is Tsunade-sama called you in on your day off," Hinata said quietly. She had lost her stutter around her long time crush thanks to some coaching from Ino and Tenten.
Naruto sighed. "Yea, I guess. Sorry to cut today short. I'll make it up to you I promise!" He flashed her one of his trademark grins, failing to notice the blush creeping up onto Hinata's face. Sasuke and Naruto threw down their money on the counter and dashed out of the small hut towards the Hokage tower.
The atmosphere was grim when the two boys walked in. It was too quiet and Tsunade was staring out the window, obviously lost in thought. Kakashi was sitting in a chair in front of her desk, patiently waiting. All heads turned towards the teenage boys as the door clicked behind them.
"Ne, Baa-chan…what's this all about?" Naruto asked getting straight to the point.
Tsunade stood up and leaned on her desk, as if unsure how or what to say next. "Naruto…Sasuke…the final search team returned."
Sasuke and Naruto's eyes widened. "So…so they found her?" the Uchiha asked, anxious. His hope quickly resided as the grim expression on the Fifth's face deepened.
"I'm…sorry. I guess we weren't quick enough." Tsunade put her hand to her mouth trying to keep herself composed. "This," she began after a few seconds, "is all we could find of her." She walked over to the boys and showed them what looked to be a red rag and rusted silver piece. As Sasuke picked up the silver, he noticed it there was an engraving, the Leaf symbol, under the rust. The cloth band was soaked with dry blood. His heart sank to his stomach.
Naruto grabbed the red cloth and immediately noticed the familiar symbol. It too was covered in blood. Disbelief and shock crossed his boyish features before being taken over by anger. "No…this can't be Sakura-chan's! There's no way! She has to be alive!" He yelled, balling up the cloth in his fist. "She's still out there and now she's hurt! We have to find her before she dies!"
"Naruto…" Kakashi looked down sadly at his students. "The search group…they said that there was too much blood. There's no way she could be alive now. And the blood was old, not fresh. She could have been hurt months ago."
"No! It can't be true…Sakura…" Naruto hung his head, tears overflowing and falling to the floor.
Sasuke was still in shock. She was really gone. A couple of weeks ago, he had thought that at least knowing if she was alive or not was better than not knowing. Now, he wasn't so sure. The Uchiha heir slammed his fist into the wall, creating a large hole. This can't be happening…not again.
"She's not gone." Naruto's voice was hoarse.
Sasuke stared out in front of him. "How can you be so sure?"
"How can you have so little faith in her?" Naruto asked. He was starting to get annoyed with the Uchiha's thoughts of their female teammate being so much weaker. "Sure, maybe she's not as strong as us. But she's not a simple, little Genin anymore either! We all passed the Chuunin exam two years ago and we were all about to try Jounin when we got back from the mission. She's not just someone that will roll over and die. You and I both know that. She's a true fighter!" His words were shaky again. But it was true. Sakura hadn't earned her rank because of them. She accomplished that goal on her own. "Tsunade, please. Give us the mission to search for her! She is our teammate. We would know what to look for."
Tsunade looked from the blonde boy to the Uchiha heir. After thinking for a moment she sighed. "Very well. You may take three people with you, but Kakashi cannot be one of them. There is work for him here. And you must meet by the gate at sunrise."
Naruto nodded, a small smile on his face. "Thank you." He turned to Sasuke. "Are you with me or not?"
Sakura maybe strong, but there's no way. Sasuke didn't meet the fox boy's gaze. He just turned on his heal and walked out of the room, still holding onto the forehead protector.
Sasuke did everything that night to try and keep his mind off of what had happened that day. He trained longer than he ever had, kicking and screaming at the poor dummy tree until it was practically a twig. He restocked his weapons and medicine pouch and even took a stroll around town at two in the morning.
All the houses and stores were dark and eerie looking. He walked along the deserted streets until he came to a familiar one. On the right side of the walk was a stone bench. Sasuke stopped and stared at the cold, stony seat. It was where Sakura had stopped him, or tried to, that night he had thought about running away to Orochimaru. Although she had failed to waver him, she did slow him down enough for Naruto to catch up.
The Uchiha heir sat down on the bench. Maybe he was giving her too little credit. It wasn't like she hadn't saved his butt in battle before either. Of course, not as many times as he had saved her, but it still should count for something, right?
You owe it to her! You're probably the one that made her run. You need to be the one that brings her back!
Damn voice. Sasuke thought. But, for once, it did have a point against the Uchiha. He glanced up towards the sky and saw it starting to light up. He had been out all night? It didn't matter; he stood up and sprinted towards his house, hoping that he would get there in time.
"Alright! Is everyone here?" Naruto surveyed the group in front of him. It wasn't the best, he wished he had the people that had helped him go after Sasuke, but it was the best he could do in such little time. "Good, let's get going guys! We can't waste any time."
"Wait!"
Naruto turned and looked back. Sasuke was running towards him, his bag packed. He caught up with the group.
"I'm coming with you!"
Naruto smiled. "Well, duh! If I hadn't thought you were coming I would have gotten three other people instead of just two."
Sasuke blinked, confused, and then turned to look at the others from his team. Hinata and a guy he had never talked to but knew of as Sai were standing there, waiting patiently. The village ice cube wasn't sure if he liked the idea of being figured out. But some how, this fox boy had. "You knew…I would change my mind?"
Naruto grinned now. "Nah! Everyone else already had missions for today. I had hoped you would though. You had me worried for a second when you weren't here with the rest of us."
"Um, Naruto. I hate to break up this meeting, but we really should get going," Hinata spoke up.
"Yea, you're right. Well, what you say, Uchiha. We're in this together?" Naruto stuck out his hand, similar to how he had the previous day. Sasuke looked down at the hand and gave a little smirk.
"Yeah," he said and clasped his own hand over Naruto's.
Me: eh…eh…eh… yea im not likin this so much. Oh well, im dyin to kno watcha thought!
