Chapter 4
Naruto slowly opened his eyes , a bright light hit him making him flinch . He was still having blurry visions and ringing in ears . He took a few moments to get his bearings back , his vision cleared as he got the hearing back , it took him only a couple of minutes before realizing that he was in a hospital . Just then the door opened and Sakura walked in in her medical attire which made him realise that he was back in Konoha .
"Naruto you're awake ! Thank god you scared us back there ."
"How long was I out ? and how did we get back to Konoha and ya most importantly how is Gaaraa and how –"
"Calm down baka relax I will tell you everything ." Sakura puts his medical records on the side and takes a seat besides his bed .
"Okay so I will start after we left you guys , Sai tried to escape that explosives guy but he continued the pursuit for a long time , we had the head start but he kept bombarding us with explosives so we decided to separate . We left lady Chiyo with gaara and tried to fight him off by hiding and making covert strikes but he caught on to us pretty quickly , me and Sai would've been dead if it was not for Kakashi sensei , Asuma sensei and some jounin named Yamato who came up as a back up also Suna sent a lot of backup as well and that creep escaped after he saw he was outnumbered . But when we found granny Chiyo and Gaaraa again we saw that Gaara was miraculously alright but she ... well she .. " Sakura's face dropped and Naruto knew what that meant."
"Its okay Sakura chan I get it , sorry you all had to face so much because of my incapability to be a leader ."
"Naruto don't you dare talk like that , Kazekage is alive you killed an Akatsuki , all of us are alive and that is what matters , if it had not been your quick thinking we may have never separated them or got Gaaraa so stop beating yourself up there is only so much you can do Naruto ."
"There is only so much I can do..."
Naruto thought of something before his eyes widened " Sakura chan how long was I out ?"
"3 Days , 2 of which you travelled on Kakashi sensei's back"
As he heard that he immediately stood out of the bed and started to run " NARUTO! Get back here right now!"
"Gomen Sakura chan this is important don't worry I am fine " he said as he ran out of the door .
Naruto jumped on the roofs as fast as he could still in his hospital clothes he jumped until he reached the Hokage office . He decided to avoid the door and the stairs and go in old fashion Jiraiya style .
"BAACHAAAN" he shouted as he jumped in the windows only to get knocked back to the wall by Tsunade's punch who had spilled her coffee .
"Gaki I swear if you do that again I will put you in hospital permanently how many times do I have to tell you take the damn – "
"Ya ya take the door i know but this is important " Naruto says standing up and cracking his neck.
"By Kami Naruto can you stay calm for even a day I mean look at you , you are barely out of hospital and –"
"I have information on Orochimaru " Tsunade stopped at that , she put her coffee down giving Naruto full attention . "Go on."
"I got an information from Sasori that he will be meeting a spy that he has with Orochimaru in 4 days time on the Tenchi bridge , I want you to assign this mission to our team ."
"No way." Said Tsunade in a commanding tone " Great job on the info but I will send some Anbu to look into it."
"Baachaan come on I-"
"No Naruto you are barely out of hospital and this is Orochimaru we are talking about I cannot risk you."
Naruto knew there was no point arguing , he let out a breath and put on his serious tone "Baachan I know that although the Damiyo has made me jounin for my strength , there is much more to it , I have a lot to learn and I can never do that with you trying to protect me . I want you to assign Kakashi sensei and Yamato taichou as leaders for our team you trust them right just please Baachan you know its Orochimaru , its Sasuke , I need to do this and as for my health I mean please chakra exhaustion ? I have a fucking 9 tails conduct a checkup if you want but please Baachan ."
"Wait how do you know Yamato ?"
"Doesnt matter "
Tsunade stared at Naruto for some time contemplating the pros and cons , after a while she let out a sigh " Okay but only after I personally conduct your medical and you will listen to everything Kakashi says understood."
"YA YA" Naruto said now grinning
"So how do you plan to capture him , Its your lead I want to hear how do you plan on going about it. "
"I wont be capturing him ."
"What ? "
"Just hear me out , Its Orochimaru we are talking about you never know where this spy's loyalties may lie for all we know he may be betraying Sasori . In any case the situation is too unstable to interfere , and even If we capture him who is to say that he will give us any info or correct info for that matter and Orochimaru knows all about Ibiki and Yamanakas he has to have a countermeasure and even if we do get some information Erosennin must have told you that Orochimaru has what like a zillion hideouts and those are only the ones we know , if he finds out that we have his guy he will disappear ."
"Hmm that does make sense . What do you propose then ?"
"I say we wait at Tenchi bridge , wait for the spy and follow him back to Orochimaru's hideout , that is the other reason why I asked for Kakashi sensei , he is a master of pursuit ."
"And what if its a trap by the Akatsuki."
"Baachan relax we are 3 jounins and 3 chunins obviously we will scout around before doing anything ."
"Okay then fine firstly come with me to the hospital if you are cleared you all will leave tomorrow at dusk ."
Later that evening
Naruto was back in his cloak strolling around happily , he was to go to his team members one by one to inform them about the mission . Sai was easy , Sakura was not , she insisted for Naruto to sit this one out but a mention of Sasuke and stamp of medical approval by Tsunade was enough in the end and now what was left was Ino . Naruto had already checked out the Flower shop and her home, not even her parents knew where Ino was so he was just strolling around at this point in hope of spotting Ino .
He walked around for some time when he finally spotted her sitting on a bench in the garden . He smiled and ran to her " Hey Ino you know ive been trying to fin-" He has a look at Ino and stopped blabbering he could see that she was sad , this is wrong Ino was never sad was she ?
"Hey you alright ?" Naruto takes a seat next to her on the bench . "Hey Ino you look sad is everything alright ?"
"No ya "
"huh No or Yes ?" Naruto scratches his head
"Forget it Naruto I don't wanna bother you." Said Ino in a depressed tone
"haha yeah you sound like someone killed a puppy in front of you do you think I would leave you like this now come on fess up " Naruto said giving Ino a light shoulder to shoulder tap . Ino looked back at him sadly almost spilling but looked down again.
"Okay alright consider this as an order , I am still you captain you know ." Naruto said with a smirk
"Alright , Naruto I am sorry ,really sorry ." Ino started to break down " I was so weak in the last mission I did nothing absolutely , Gaaraa almost died , Chiyo died , Sakura could have died and you oh my god Naruto when you collapsed back then I was so afraid I... I .. thought you ... " Ino started sobbing now "And there I was I hardly killed 5 puppets and I am a chunin ... god I feel so useless ." She put her head in her hands and started crying .
Naruto just looked at her as she cried , A part of him , an old part just wanted to console her and tell her that she is strong and he probably would've have but seeing what he saw during the war he knew that no matter how hard he and his friends tried , they fell short in the end they all needed to improve this time .
"Ino " he said but she was still crying " Ino " he said with a little louder voice as he takes her chin in his hand and raises her head " Okay calm down and look at me . You mentioned Chiyo but you did not mention Kankuro who you and Sakura saved , you did not mention the time you saved me against Sasori ."
"Naruto that does not – "
"I know I get it , you know I really understand what you feel right now , I really understand that feeling that whatever you try to do you just cannot help , you just somehow always fall short ."
"oh really you expect me to believe that ? Naruto you are super strong I mean like scary strong ."
"And Gaara still died for some time and granny Chiyo is still dead isn't she ? Ino I know how you feel you think you are weak see Ino trust me when I say this YOU ARE NOT WEAK okay , but I am not going to sugar coat things either you may not be weak but you are nowhere close to as strong as you could be , Ino you may not realise but you have potential to be 'scary strong' as well " that got Ino to stop crying and get a giggle out of her as she wiped last of her tears and smiled at him
" and I know you will reach it take this as a turning point in your life and say what we could train together if you want but it has to wait for after the mission we leave for tomorrow ."
"Yeah I think that would be great , you are right Naruto I cant sit around here sulking god I feel like such a school girl , but no more I will get stronger no matter what I cant let you protect me all the time you know people might think you have hots for me " she said giving him a wink
Naruto develops a light blush and scratches the back of his head "N.. No no thats not what ...I mean that not how-" He stutters as Ino started laughing it was amazing how he changed her mood so quickly like that , she decided to have more fun.
"Well Naruto this is interesting who knew you had this alpha male side to you its kinda hot you know " she said with a seductive smile . Naruto was as red as an apple now " wh ... what ? don't say stuff like that ."
"Oh why not hot shot it was so sexy the way you picked my chin up like a dominating male and oh how you said I was not strong ... so hot . " she said moving closer and closer
"I SAID YOURE STRONG JUST NOT ENOUGH- " . "Okay we have a mission we should go " he stood up to leave with Ino right behind him
" Oh Naruto why are you leaving me alone hottie come back ."
Naruto ran with Ino laughing and following him .
The next day early morning
"Alright looks like everyone is here " Kakashi says standing with Yamato as Naruto yawning walks in being the last to show up.
"Okay I hope Naruto would have briefed you 3 about the mission" .
All three reply "Haii"
. "Okay good I will go through it once again anyways , so we have to intercept the spy at Tenchi bridge who will be there on the 3rd day , we will rest tonight at a hot spring tomorrow will be a mock drill and training day and we will reach at the bridge early 3rd morning . I will brief about the plan before mock drill , I will be the 1st in command , Yamato 2nd and Naruto will be 3rd in command . One thing Ill make very clear right now DO NOT ENGAGE ANYBODY until I say so , this is a pursuit mission keep your feelings out of this . Any questions ? No good so lets get going team ."
Team Naruto along with Kakashi and Yamato leave for the mission , the former team 7 members with Ino had a strong determination for this mission as Sasuke was involved . The group jumped from tree to tree and covered the first day 's distance at a quick pace by early evening , they knew that a hot bath awaited them so they decided to push it .
They reached the hot spring as the senior members got 2 rooms one each for boys and girls .The group rested up before a relaxing evening bath .
"Oh man nothing like a relaxing hot bath eh Kakashi sense " Naruto said stretching on the edge of the tub .
"Well I think I can agree with that Naruto ." Kakashi says reading his book in the tub .
All 4 males have been relaxing in the men's bath for some time now washing off the fatigue , the girls have been doing the same thing past a wall .
"Ahh forehead it doesn't get better than this does it ."
"Ya pig but Im still kind of on a lookout with on Naruto that side ."
"You think he will peek ? I don't think so I mean he is mischievous yes but I don't think he'll do something like that ."
"Pig just think about who he has been with for the last 3 years ."
Ino's relaxed smile turns into a worried one now " Okay I see your point ."
"Well I guess we don't need to worry I don't think Sensei , Yamato taichou or Sai would let him anyways . Hey talking of Sai how is your pursuit going after all you said you had dibs on him ."
"Heh what pursuit ? Oh that , forget it forehead the guy just has a decently pretty face my pursuit ended the moment he opened his mouth honestly I sometime have to keep myself from clobbering him ."
"hahaha I know that feeling ..." Sakura squints her eyes towards Ino " wait a minute is it because we will soon be getting Sasuke kun home and you want to go after him again ."
That got Ino to stop laughing and put on a serious face " Woah what happened pig ?"
"No nothing Sakura its just that I have been thinking about these things a lot lately ."
"Oh I knew it you have been thinking about him I swear pig if you –"
"Oh relax forehead thats not what I'm talking about ."
"Then what ?"
"Okay I mean after last mission all I did for a week was think about what I have done in my life up until now , I felt that all I have been doing till now is a waste I mean what was any of that for , my teammates have responsibilities and have moved on even Shika who is always teased to be lazy and I have been stuck , then I get assigned with you guys and that last mission really knocked me in the head like a reality check ."
"Sakura I call myself a Shinobi but all I have ever done is link up well with Shikamaru and Choji , I never trained hard I never had a goal of my own except Sasuke and when I thought about that , about him more I felt like the biggest idiot in the world ."
Sakura was shocked now , this was the first time she has seen Ino call Sasuke without kun "W..What about him ?" she asked
"I mean no offense but look at him , I followed him around half my life because why ? he was cool ? I mean the more you really think about it the lesser it makes sense I mean of course he would be the best in the academy after all before his family died he was trained by the best warrior clan in the world . When you think past that he was cold , he was harsh , he was thankless I mean compare that to lets say Naruto , he had absolutely nobody to help him on top of that he was hated and despised by everyone for basically being the reason everyone is alive I mean how stupid is that , Sasuke was basically treated like a prince after the Uchiha massacre as the sole survivor and he could not take it . Could you imagine if half the treatment Naruto got had happened to Sasuke how he would have been ? And then look at him he fought and fought and now he is one of the youngest jounins in the village , he is respected more and more every passing day, he freaking killed an S rank criminal , he worked with the Damiyo for crying out loud and he obviously has to be stronger than Sasuke right now I mean you saw the aftermath of his fight with Sasori it was like a meteor had crashed there and what did Sasuke do ? He abandoned everyone who were just trying to help him heal since the day he lost his family and joined Konoha's greatest enemy ."
"Don't get me wrong Sakura I really want Sasuke to come home as well and I will do everything I can in this mission I mean whatever happened our class is still like a family but I don't think I can ever forgive him for what he and his friends did to Choji and others I was too scared to admit it then but now . Its funny how if I heard myself say these things a week or two ago I would have pounded myself into ground but now.. well lets just say when someone you care about almost dies protecting you while you did nothing it changes you ."
"Well forehead as we were the last surviving members of Sasuke fan club I guess its time I officially concede , when we bring him back he is all yours enjoy ." Ino said with a proud smile .
Sakura was shocked , offended , relieved , worried , angry and many other things all at the same time . She definitely did not see this coming , she wanted to argue and defend Sasuke's honour but she seriously could not find anything other than him being cool , she did not want to admit it but Ino had good points so in order to end this discussion she faced away back to her bath .
Later after her bath Ino went to the changing room , she heard someone squealing from the men's side
"Where the fuck is it !"
She entered the room and saw a frustrated Naruto stomping around with only his pants on , she developed a blush when she saw his upper body , he had perfectly refined muscles and abs she absolutely did not expect that after all he was mostly in his cloak so his cuts didn't find a way out to show the world . "Oh... Oh... Oh Kami when did he get so .. so .. hot ?" " What the fuck am I thinking no Ino stop ... but his abs ...Oh god Im going to have that dream again aren't I. "
She somehow composed herself and coughed to get his attention . "umm what do you think you are doing Naruto ?"
"Oe Ino someone stole my shirt I bet its Sai I swear when I get my hands on him I –"
"You mean the shirt that is sticking out from behind your pants ."
"Oh yeah there it is thanks Ino ."
" Kami if only he can grow up with brains as well "
"Baka now go get ready for dinner ."
Later that night
Everyone was asleep at this point but Naruto couldn't sleep , this was very important for him . Everyone might be hoping for clues but he knew for sure that he would find Sasuke and this was a very delicate situation that he really need to be careful with . He went out for a stroll and saw Sai sitting under a tree drawing , he went up to him .
"Hey Sai can I sit here ."
"Okay sure what do you want ?"
"I don't want anything dumbass just here to clear my mind . So drawing a picture of the moon huh it looks good I must say ."
Sai says nothing and continued to draw . Naruto looked at him for a second before he spoke up .
"I trust you you know" Sai looks at him .
"I know you are from root and where your upmost loyalties lie I don't know what your intentions are with this mission or this team but I still trust you ."
"Why?"
"I don't know I guess I think we can be good friends maybe ."
"We are comrades and nothing else ."
Naruto takes his book out of his bag " Who is it ?"
"Its my nee san and please don't touch that its private ."
"Okay okay geez , so your brother where is he ."
"He is dead , he was from the root as well ."
Naruto stays quiet for a moment waiting for Sai so speak up and he finally does .
"May I ask you why are you going this far for a man who has abandoned the leaf and joined the likes of Orochimaru ?"
"Tell me something Sai did you love your brother?"
"Uh yes a lot."
"So tell me if I can offer you a chance to have him back where you are not root members who have to kill each other but you are just you no Danzo no Konoha nothing just you two doing whatever you want painting , talking sparring whatever you two like so would you take it ?"
"Of course I will."
"And what are you willing to sacrifice for this life ?"
"Ill give up anything , everything " Sai says looking up to the sky
"That is exactly why I am doing this Sai , this is the power of the bond you share with your brother , you say root and Danzo are everything to you but you were willing to give it all up for him that is the power of the bond of love . I have the same bond with Sasuke , I think of him as a brother and I will do anything to save him . Hopefully now you understand . I also think Sai you are a kind man and you still have a chance to make those bonds again , you may have lost your brother but that is no reason to shut your heart up . You can have those bonds with many people in life sure it may hurt , sometimes it means doing the wrong thing for the other person but beyond all that there is the bliss you feel that makes you happier than anything in the world."
Naruto got up and walked back to the motel leaving Sai in deep thought. Sai looked at Naruto's back then looked down at his book "Bonds huh ? " He then looked back at Naruto and smiled for real "You are an interesting man Uzumaki Naruto ."